~One Week Later~

Jirou couldn't help but sigh as she walked into classroom. This week had been full of nothing but studying for finals and the worst of it has yet to come.

"Hey, what are you listening to?" whispered Kaminari right into Jirou's ear.

A cold shiver ran down her shine before Jirou had a chance to respond, "I-Idiot! Don't sneak up on people like that!" She sent her jacks toward Kaminari's eyes, but he managed to duck before it was too late.

"Whoa, I'm getting a lot better at dodging those!" he chuckled. "But you're one to talk! I almost broke stuff in Marley's store last week because of you!"

"That was completely different," Jirou shrugged then dropped her bag down onto her desk. "Can't you see everyone is on edge?"

"Really? Why?" Kaminari asked while settling down his own things at his desk.

Jirou turned around in her seat, unsure how to explain that even with all the commotion she caused, everyone seemed dead. A few people like Mina and Kirishima who were normally the most talkative kids of the class were actually in their seats trying to nap, while others such as Sero and Ochako were trying to cram before class even started. "Because everyone has been focused on studying for the upcoming exams… Haven't you?"

"Uh no, that's what the review session with Yaomomo is for, right?"

Jirou didn't know whether to zap him for his response or herself for expecting a reasonable answer out of him for once. "Yeah, but it's not like we'll be able to go over all of the term material in one afternoon."

"But Yaomomo makes everything easy to understand. With her as the teacher, there's no way any of us can fail!"

"You weren't that confident yesterday Mr. Dead Last," Jirou snickered. Just as expected, Kaminari's face fell flat.

"Not cool, just not cool!" Kaminari shook his head as he walked towards the back of the room where Momo and Todoroki were talking. Probably to try and reassure himself that he had the right mentality, "And leave the nicknames to Bakugo!"

Jirou couldn't help but laugh. It wouldn't be a normal morning if Kaminari wasn't making a fuss.

"Oi Kyoukaaaa, you seem really happy this morning!" Mina chimed in once Kaminari was out of ear-shot.

"Oh hey Mina, I thought you were asleep?"

"Nope, I was enjoying the show!" Mina said as she innocently stood next to Jirou.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"You know, just that you've been talking pretty often to Kaminari this week," Mina casually brought up.

"Well yeah, we sit right next to each other," Jirou knew where this was going. "I don't think it's possible for an hour to go by without him blabbing off about something. You should know since you sit on his other side."

"Okay, that's true. But I saw you guys leaving together every day this week!" Mina pressed on.

"What about Midoriya and Ochako? They walk home together all the time," Jirou felt slightly guilty for throwing them into the spotlight, but she didn't like what Mina was assuming.

"That's different though. They've been walking home together since day one and Class Prez is usually with them!"

The classroom door opened and Aizawa-sensei walked in as tired as always. Everyone rushed to get settled in their seats while Jirou couldn't have been more thankful for the unintentional rescue from Mina's interrogation.

It wasn't that she didn't have a point. Jirou did notice some changes this week as well. Kaminari was arriving to school a lot earlier than usual so their bickering started off the day sooner than before. He's also been trying to convince the others to hang out after school, but no one has taken him up on his offer due to the upcoming exams. He kept bugging her about it too as he would walk with her to the station, but Jirou promised that they could hang out at Marley's after they were through with exams.

Jirou wasn't complaining. He was a fun guy to be around and the easiest person to tease. She'd be lying to herself if she wasn't looking forward to their outing.

She slightly turned her head to take a peek over at the boy consuming her thoughts. Jirou bit down hard on her tongue to keep from laughing as she saw the grim look on Kaminari's face. She could only assume was that Momo put him in his place and told him to study. At least she wouldn't have to worry about getting distracted by him during class.


"Come on Jirou!" Kaminari begged as he followed Jirou out of the UA gates. The rest of the day had gone by quickly since everyone was too focused on the review materials or too tired to act out, but that didn't seem to stop Kaminari.

"No! The last time you came over to do homework, you kept stopping every 20 minutes for a break. I won't get any studying done with you around!" Jirou yelled while picking up the pace as other students looked her way to see what the commotion was about.

"Please! I'll be more motivated to study if I'm with someone. Besides, didn't I promise your mom I'd be over for dinner this week?" Kaminari plead.

"Damn it, Kaminari. Do you really not want to go home that badly?"

"W-what do you mean? I just don't want to be alone," he argued.

"It's easy to tell that you've been trying to avoid going home this whole week. But it doesn't make sense if you live on your own," She suddenly stopped and turned around, "Wait… Are you behind on rent or something?"

"What!? No!… Okay listen. There is a reason but it doesn't have to do with money or anything like that," Kaminari tried to explain but Jirou didn't look like she believed him, "Really! It's no big deal."

"If it's not a big deal then go home and deal with it."

"I-I can't I… just really can't right now," Kaminari stuttered to respond.

Jirou stared at him for a moment before slowly asking, "Why?"

"It's kind of complicated… Family stuff," he tried to laugh it off, but Jirou could tell from his forced laugh that Kaminari had already shared more than what he was comfortable with. Family drama was something she never had to deal with so she didn't know what to say to him.

"Fine," she gave in. "I guess you can't show up to the review session as a complete idiot or the rest of us won't be able to get any actual help from Momo."

"Sweet! Since it's on the way, we might as well stop by Marley's!" Kaminari took the lead before Jirou could say another word. She knew that it was a lost cause to argue back and decided to text her mom about the extra dinner guest they were having over.

Even though their conversation had been unexpectedly heavy, there wasn't a lot of time to ponder of it as they rushed through the train station to board the crowded train. Normally, Jirou would wait for a train with less people to arrive, but she didn't feel like asking Kaminari to wait since he seemed so eager to get to Marley's.

Unfortunately for Jirou, the person standing behind her had a low hanging tail that kept hitting her legs. It didn't really hurt but it was definitely a bother if she was going to be stuck like that the whole way home.

"Hey," Kaminari whispered.

"What?" Her frustration was obvious.

"You look uncomfortable. You can stand in front of me if you want?" Kaminari got lucky and was standing next to a hand rail. She was currently right next to him, but Jirou couldn't help but blush at how close they would be pressed up against each other.

"Don't try anything funny," Jirou said as she squeezed her way over. Kaminari had more than a couple of inches on her so she didn't have to worry about hitting his head.

"I won't, geez, have some faith in me," he shuffled back as much as he could to make room for her.

"You're friends with Mineta so that trust only goes so far."

"You can trust me a little more than him," Kaminari used one hand to grab onto Jirou's shoulder and the other to hold on tight to the hand rail to help keep their balance. "See, no funny business."

"I guess so," she muttered, happy that she had her back to him when they were so close.

The rest of the train ride was quiet and slowly emptied out with each stop until it was finally the duo's turn to get off. Any prior comments seemed completely brushed off by Kaminari since he was his normal self while they made their way to Marley's. It was only after they were a few steps into the shop that they heard Marley from the counter, "Kyouka, is that you? I can barely recognize you!"

"Stop acting so old," Jirou joked around, "It's only been a week."

"Well, you're going to find me dead that next time you come around if you keep taking so long to visit!"

"You haven't seen this guy since then either," She stressed as she made her way to the empty stool next to her uncle. She thought Kaminari would awkwardly stand around, but surprised her by jumping up and sitting on the counter. "…and why aren't you yelling at him to get off the counter?"

Marley looked over at Kaminari, "You haven't told her?"

"It didn't really come up…" Kaminari awkwardly answered.

Jirou looked back and forward between the two, "What exactly didn't come up, Kaminari?"

"Electro-man here has been coming around every day since his first visit," Marley explained, like a proud parents boasting about their kid.

"What? Seriously?" Jirou suddenly felt unsure about this new friendship between her uncle and her friend.

"I did ask you if you wanted to hang out, but you kept saying no," Kaminari ran a hand through his hair and avoided looking at Jirou.

"Yeah, because we have finals next week!" Jirou said after standing up from her seat.

Trying to stop a fight before it started, Marley made an effort to mediate between the two, "Don't bicker with the boy. You're not getting replaced, but he is good company."

"Yeah well good company or not, Kaminari should have been studying or did he forget to bring up that he's last in our class."

"JIROU!" Kaminari yelled, almost falling backwards over the counter. "Marley didn't need to know that!"

Marley simply waved it off, "We all have our strengths and such. It's not like I was any good at the books…"

"See! And I was studying… The meaning of music and how it helps the soul," Jirou rolled her eyes at how overly serious Kaminari looked until he cracked a smile. "That's not something we can learn at UA, you know."

"Yeah well you won't have to worry about learning anything at UA if Aizawa-sensei expels you for flunking the finals."

It was all laughs from Marley as Jirou and Kaminari continued to argue until the familiar sound of the door bell rung. Jirou couldn't help but look over to see who entered since Marley wouldn't even acknowledge the person less they spoke to him first.

Jirou was actually a bit surprised. They looked like someone with a 9-5 job in a typical black suit, hair slicked back, and suitcase in hand. There were no obvious clues for any physical quirks so they could have been quirk-less, despite the odd way they walked. Definitely not the regular type of music junkie that would come through on occasion.

"You know, it would be better for business if you actually talked to the people who walked in here," Jirou sighed.

"If they want to buy something, then they can come to me. I don't need to get out of my seat to provide unnecessary help." Jirou could only shake her head in agreement, but couldn't keep her eyes off the customer. They were obviously taking their time walking through each aisle, almost as if they were planning where to take each step they took. However, they didn't seem to have an ounce of interest in looking at any of the merchandise in the store. Marley must have noticed too and didn't seem very happy about it.

"Hey, I don't care how slow business is but if you're only walking through here to stay out of the heat then you better walk yourself right out the door!" Marley shouted. The person didn't seem surprised and responded "My apologies" before they walked right out the door.

"That was weird," Jirou stated the obvious.

Marley snorted, "'Not even the strangest one we got this week. Someone came in asking if I was the real Bob Marley yesterday, right Denki?"

"Um… yeah," Kaminari was completely out of it, staring off towards the door. "Jirou, you were right."

"Sure I was… But about what?" She questioned.

Kaminari jumped off the counter and grabbed his bag off the ground, "Heading to your place. I should probably try studying on my own before asking for help."

"You're agreeing with me now? You can't leave-"

"Look, I really have to go. I'll see you tomorrow at Yaomomo's. See ya Marley!" Before Jirou could even try to hold him back, Kaminari had already run out the door.

"That was sudden," Marley said and then patted Jirou on the head the same way he always did when she would get upset as a kid. "Sorry, your study date got canceled, but he seems like the type that would try to make it up to you later."

"I don't really care," She huffed, but didn't stop her uncle from comforting her. Jirou should have felt relieved, but some small part of her couldn't help feel a bit disappointed, "Besides, it wasn't a date."

"If you say so," was all Marley had to say.


Hey everyone, sorry for the long wait! These last few weeks have been pretty hectic and to make matters worse my phone completely died a week ago and I haven't been able to replace it yet. (Remember to back up all of your stuff people! I lost two one-shots and had to rewrite part of this chapter T-T… ) Anyways, the next chapter will be up pretty soon since I'll be done with classes in a week and I want to make some substantial progress with this story.

Feel free to let me know what you guys think of this chapter in the comment box below! I do read all of the comments so thank you very much to all of you wonderful people who have already done so!

Also, two quick notes! 1) I am still accepting requests for Kamijirou one-shots. I'll start releasing those as soon as I'm done with these summer classes! 2) I know the formatting has been off so I'll make an effort to fix the spacing issue(I can't fix it on my laptop for some reason) and any small grammar errors before the next update!

~Thanks for reading!~