IZUKU POV

As I woke up from the effects of Ms. Midnight's quirk and what I assumed was also anesthesia I saw the familiar sight of a divider sheet. Letting out a sigh I closed my eyes again. "Why does it feel like I wake up in some sort of infirmary more than I do in my own bed?"

The pain that was in my shoulder earlier had been reduced to a minor annoyance at this point. It was still stiff and uncomfortable to try and move, but I could deal with that. I wanted to get up and head back to the festival but I felt a weight on my legs as I tried to move them.

Finally taking in the full view of my surroundings I saw Mama Joke fast asleep resting her head on my legs. A sudden wave of guilt rushed over me as I recalled everything I had said to her earlier. Deciding to postpone the unwanted conversation as long as possible I stayed still so she could sleep a little longer and so I could form an apology.

Sadly the universe was still against me today. As I carefully returned to a comfortable resting position Mama Joke started to wake up. All forms of panic started to set in as she turned to see me awake.

"Oh God what do I say? I'm sorry? No, that sounds like a cop out. Fancy seeing you here? No, I doubt a stupid joke would be of any help right now. Nice weather we're having? What the hell am I a grandma?"

Before I could think of anything to say she practically jumped me to bring me into her arms. Her warm embrace was a comfort that I couldn't describe. Even though I didn't know where we stood right now I was going to let her have this.

After a minute she let go and sat back down in her chair. The room was quickly filled with an awkward tension. It was obvious neither of us knew what to say. We sat in silence until she finally broke it.

"I'm sorry Izu… Midoriya." There was still pain clearly etched into her face. Our earlier conversation had clearly shifted our dynamic. "It was wrong for me to say the things I did. I shouldn't have hit you either… it wasn't my place."

I didn't know what to say. She shouldn't have been the one to apologize.

"After all the time we spent together I guess I let the whole Mama Joke thing get to my head. I know I'm not your real mom and that Shota isn't your real dad."

"Stop it."

"At some point I blurred the lines and just assumed you had as well."

"Please stop it."

"I know you have to deal with a lot and I know I'll never know how it feels, but I truly want what's best for you. I'm sure you already know how I can get when something is important to me."

"You… you don't have to apologize…" I looked her in the eyes before quickly looking away again. "I shouldn't have said those things to you... I'm sorry."

We sat in another awkward silence for a while before she let out a sigh. "Do you want to talk about it?"

I silently nodded. The only sound that could be heard was the soft hum of the AC unit. She gave me a soft smile and nodded.

"Today wasn't a good day. The first thing this morning, one of my classmates tried to pull a fast one on me."

She looked at me confused.

Letting out a sigh I rested my head back on my pillow. "This guy that likes Jirou told me to back off of her. He even went as far to try and convince me that they were dating." I let out a nervous chuckle. "It would almost be funny if it wasn't so pathetic."

"But it was enough to get the voices started."

"Yeah, it wasn't the first time we've had issues and it won't be the last time."

Mama Joke's fist clenched around the sheets on the bed. "Maybe I should go have a few… choice words with him."

"That's not necessary, I already handled that in the second round of the finals. Besides, I have a few other things planned for him." A small smirk spread across my face.

Mama Joke just shook her head as she let go of the sheets. "Was it the second kid you fought?"

I let out a nervous laugh. "Yeah… not gonna lie, it felt good getting to do that."

She let out a small smile as she shook her head. "So what happened after that?"

"After that conversation I ran into Jirou. She asked if I wanted to do something tomorrow. I told her I already had plans but that we should do something another day. After that she just left and didn't talk to me until before the first match." Staring at the ceiling I shook my head. "In the second event both her and Yaomomo instantly grouped up with others. It's not like I expected to be their first choice but the fact that they dismissed me so quickly made me feel empty." I sat up and looked at Mama Joke. "I know it's nothing personal but these damn voices won't ever shut up."

Mama Joke pulled me back into her arms as I rested my head on her shoulder.

Returning the hug I felt a few tears escape. "Then that bastard in the first round just gave up in the middle of the fight, it's… it's just so infuriating."

Mama Joke calmly rubbed the back of my head. "You really did see some of yourself in him didn't you?"

"Yeah… if things had been different that easily could have been me. When he gave up and accepted he wasn't going to win I lost it. After that… well you know the rest."

Mama Joke didn't answer, she just held me trying to comfort me. The silence we shared was comfortable; it felt as if nothing had happened. After a few minutes she pulled me off her shoulder looking me in the eyes.

"Feeling any better now?"

I gave her a small nod. "Yeah, thanks Mama Joke."

For a brief moment I could see a sparkle in her eyes as a smile was plastered on her face. Apparently she needed that just as much as I did.

"So you think that Jirou girl is upset with you?"

I nervously scratched my head. "Yeah… we had been doing great for the past few weeks but after I told her I had plans for tomorrow it feels like she's been avoiding me."

Mama Joke just looked at me with a deadpan expression. "So you're confused as to why this girl is avoiding you after you told her you had plans for tomorrow, after she said she wanted to hang out?"

"Yes."

"Alright are you just that oblivious or just that stupid?"

"…yes?"

Mama Joke bursted into laughter. "Oh God, that's priceless."

I was starting to get a little irritated. "So do you have any clue why she'd be like this?"

"Of course."

"Well what is it?"

"Oh I'm not telling. You have to figure it out on your own."

I fell back onto my pillow and stared at the ceiling. "God dammit."

Mama Joke couldn't help laughing at my antics. "So what plans could be so important that you can't go out with her?"

I gave her a sideways glance. "Besides having a session with Ms. Midnight?"

"Yes besides that."

I took a deep breath as I sat back up. "I might go and see… her tomorrow."

Mama Jokes demeanor completely changed to serious. "Why didn't you tell us? How did you even find where she's at? Are… are you sure you're ready?"

"I don't know, Ms. Midnight said it may help me get some form of closure. Honestly I'm scared, I don't know what to expect. It's been over three years since I last saw her, I don't even know if she'll remember me."

She gave me a soft smile as she put her hand on my head. "Well if it's something you think you need to do."

We continued to talk about the potential chance of me going to see my biological mom. Before too long we had fallen back into our normal back and forth of making jokes.

"Hey Mama Joke, why hasn't anyone come by to check up on me?" We had been talking for over an hour and not once did anyone come in or even knock.

"Well about that. After we popped your shoulder back in Recovery Girl healed you and said once you wake up you'd be good to go."

"That clears up that part, but that doesn't explain why none of my class came to check on me."

She let out a nervous laugh. "Well I may have told them not to come since I wanted to be the one to take care of you."

I let out a sigh. "That is so like you Mama Joke." Taking a deep breath I stood up and grabbed my jacket. "Well I should probably go meet up with everyone before the festival ends."

"Yeah, about that…"

"It's already over, isn't it?"

"Yeah, you were out for a while."

"Well in that case I guess I'll head back to the dorms then. I'm sure a few people might be wondering where I am." I finished putting on my jacket as I made my way to the door.

Mama Joke was still sitting in the chair next to the bed. "Do you think you can make it back on your own?"

I stopped to think for a moment. "My shoulder is still pretty sore, I may need some help carrying my bag back to the dorm."

Mama Joke quickly got up and opened the door. "Well what are we waiting for? Come on Izuku, you shouldn't make your friends worry."

MOMO POV

Today has been a rollercoaster in every sense of the word. There was apparently an unspoken rivalry between class 1-A and 1-B that none of us had been aware of. One of the students in 1-B would take any chance he had to try and prove that their class was better than ours. It wasn't a big surprise that someone in the hero course at the best school in the nation would have a superiority complex. Thankfully most of what he said had no real traction and was his own delusions that he tried to speak into existence.

He did have a few choice words to say about Midori after we watched his first fight. While almost everyone agreed that his final kick to his opponent's head was excessive, even if it was deserved, it did seem to send a message just how he wanted to. Jirou seemed to be the most worried since she was able to hear everything that was said down at the field.

The pest of class 1-B who we just knew as Monoma was quick to talk about how "villainous" his actions were. We were sure that he was going to constantly try to get under Midori's skin when he made it back to our seats, but he never showed up.

As much as I wanted to go try and find him Jirou insisted that he wouldn't want that. She knew him better than all of us so I accepted it. I figured when it was time for my fight I might run into him while making my way to the arena, but sadly that didn't happen either. Unfortunately I ended up losing in the first round. My head was so clouded worrying where he could have gone to that I wasn't able to focus properly on my fight.

After I composed myself I found Jirou and we continued to watch together. The next time we saw him was when he was supposed to fight Kaminari. Jirou seemed more interested in this fight than any others. It was clear that we were both worried about him, but seemed to relax a little after he looked up to us in the stands.

The fight between the two of them was over quickly. Jirou had a small smile on her face, while I was happy that he was using the bo staff I made for him. Sadly Monoma wasted no time to try and tell us that our class was inferior because a quirkless kid was making easy work of his opponents. To everyone's surprise he was quickly shut up by Bakugo sending an explosion straight to his face.

Just like after his first match Midori never came up to the seating section. Saying that we were worried would be an understatement especially since his next fight was going to be against Todoroki. I knew Midori could handle himself in a fight, but this was going to be one of if not the hardest opponents in the competition.

The fight between them was a spectacle. Not only did Todoroki use his flames in a fight for what seemed like the first time ever, but Midori even dislocated his own shoulder to try and win. We were barely able to hear the pop where we were sitting, I didn't even want to think about how Jirou heard it. The biggest surprise of the fight wasn't the fact that it ended pretty anticlimactic, it was when Midori took off his jacket and shirt. The scar that covered the majority of his chest was something I wasn't expecting. While everyone else's eyes were focused on the scar Jirous' eyes seemed to be drawn to the wrap on his arm. I don't know if she realized it but in that moment a tear ran down her cheek as she softly mumbled his name.

Immediately after the fight a few from our class went to check on him. When we arrived we were turned away by Recovery Girl. Apparently someone said they'd watch over him until he woke up. Thankfully she told us that he was going to be fine and that there was nothing to worry about.

After the festival ended we all went back to the dorms. Everyone was unwinding and ready to enjoy the weekend off. Midori had yet to return, Jirou was clearly on edge. She was constantly checking her phone and looking out the window. It was almost painful to see how worried she was for him.

"Hey Jirou, can we talk for a minute?"

She turned around to look at me. "Sure, what's up Yaomomo?"

I gave a little head nod towards the door. "It's lovely out at this time of day, why don't we step outside?"

Thankfully she picked up on the hint that this was something that needed privacy. She stood up and led the way outside. The two of us sat down on the stairs as she just stared down the path.

"You know it's extremely obvious you're worried about him."

Her jacks spazzed out momentarily as she looked at me shocked. "What are you talking about?"

"You've been staring at your phone and out the front windows since we all got back from the dorms."

"Is it wrong for me to be worried about a friend?"

I let out a small laugh. "Not at all, I was just stating the facts."

She let out a laugh as well. "Well is that all you wanted to talk to me about?"

"Not exactly." I took a deep breath as I looked down the pathway. "So Midori told me he'd tell me everything."

Jirou looked at me surprised. "Why? I mean it's not wrong for him to, it's just out of character for him."

"Well I helped him with his training last week, this is his way of thanking me I guess."

"Alright, well why are you telling me this? Did you want my permission or something?"

"Actually I wanted you to be there for the conversation."

Her face turned to one of confusion. "Why?"

"You mean besides the fact that some of it is going to involve you?"

She let out a sigh. "Go on."

"Well Midori is always more relaxed when you're around. I figured things would be smoother if you were there as well."

"Yeah that makes sense." She stretched before leaning back on the steps. "So I guess this talk of yours is why he said he had plans tomorrow?"

Now it was my turn to be confused. "We had decided to talk tonight."

Jirou quickly sat back up. "Wait so he doesn't have any plans with you tomorrow?"

"Not that I know of."

She let out a sigh as she hung her head. "Dammit then who does he have plans with?"

"Sounds like someone's jealous." I let out a small laugh.

"It's not like that." Her face turned a light shade of pink.

"Whatever you say." I stood up and dusted myself off. "Let's head back inside and try to enjoy ourselves until he gets back.

Jirou nodded as she stood up as well. It was starting to get late so we ended up making dinner for ourselves. Jirou thought it would be a good idea to make something for Midori since he would probably be too tired to make something himself. The two of us had just finished eating when the front door opened. Everyone that was still in the common room rushed to welcome him back.

He was promptly met with an ocean of questions and comments. Thankfully Iida was able to step in and calm the situation. Much to my surprise Jirou did get up to welcome him back. She had decided to stay in her chair at the table. Once everyone had gotten their excitement out they went back to doing whatever they had been doing before.

"Long time no see stranger." I gave him a smile as I approached him.

"Hey Yaomomo, sorry I guess I felt like taking a nap after everything."

"It's fine, we're just glad to see you're alright."

He let out a nervous laugh. "Me too."

I looked around the room before leaning in closer to him to whisper. "So about tonight, I told Kyo that you were going to tell me everything. I also asked her to come along as well. Just wanted to give you a little heads up beforehand."

He let out a sigh before giving me a small smile. "Thanks, but can we do it a little later? I need to shower and eat."

"Of course just let me know whenever you're ready."

He started to make his way towards the rooms when Jirou called out to him.

"We made you something already, it's in the fridge labeled."

"Thanks, I'll get it in a minute."

I went and sat across from Jirou. She was doing her best to hide the smile on her face. I couldn't help but laugh at her.

"You are something else. One moment you're worried sick and the next you act as if nothing happened."

She let out a soft grumble before getting up to wash her dishes. The two of us continued to make idle conversation with the rest of our class. It was nice having these calm moments with everyone, especially with everything we had been through since we started. The year had barely just begun and we already had so many stories to tell and I was certain that we'd have plenty of fond memories in this building. The night continued on and after a couple hours I had a feeling that Midori had fallen asleep and forgotten about us. I couldn't blame him, we were all exhausted and his day was longer than the majority of us. Just as everyone was getting ready to head to their rooms he walked in to grab a drink from the fridge. As he was turning to head back to his room again he motioned with his head for us to follow him.

The walk to his room with Jirou was a little unsettling. We didn't talk and the feeling that things could easily go wrong lingered in my head. When we reached his room the door was slightly cracked. As I reached to knock Jirou just pushed the door open walking in as if she belonged there.

Midori wasn't fazed at all as she walked in and sat on the bed without saying a word. I was stunned and just stood outside of the door.

"You can come in, I left the door open for a reason. I'd really hate to deal with Iida's lecture of what is and isn't appropriate."

"Oh right, sorry." I quickly entered, shutting the door behind me. I made my way to his bed and sat next to Jirou.

He let out a sigh as he made his way to his desk. "Do you mind if I have a drink?"

"Go ahead, it's good to stay hydrated."

A small chuckle came from him as he turned to Jirou. "Are you still ok with it Kyoka?"

She just gave him a nod. I found it strange that he asked if it was still ok with her. Clearly I was missing something that she knew about. Hopefully tonight was going to help clear some of that up. That being said I was not expecting him to pull out a half empty bottle of whisky and take a swig as if it was water.

"MIDORI WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" I quickly threw my hands over my mouth.

He started to laugh a little as he set the bottle on the desk. "What are the chances she'd do the same exact thing as you Kyoka?"

I looked at her surprised as she just shook her head. "His room is soundproof so no one heard a thing."

I let out a sigh as I tried to regain my composure. "Is that so, well I guess it was a good idea to do that sense you work with music." I narrowed my gaze at him. "But what's the meaning of that?" I pointed at the bottle.

He picked it and took another drink. "Anyone who would have gone through the things I did would pick up a few vices."

"While that may be true it's still terrible for your health. Just think of the long term effects it could have."

"Nonsense, I've not yet begun to defile myself." He raised the bottle at me before setting it back on the desk. "You said you wanted to know everything, well this is part of it."

I was taken back at what he had just said. That feeling that tonight could go extremely wrong came back in full force. Midori stood up and took another drink before putting the bottle away.

He proceeded to tell me the rest of his story. After he showed us his scars Jirou had made her way next to him and had wrapped one of her jacks around his wrist. While I had my suspicions since his comments about scars being nothing new to him, it was something else seeing it firsthand.

He then proceeded to tell the story about how he manifested his quirk and the effects it had on his family. It was truly heartbreaking to think that someone so young had to go through much. Luckily his story did have a few bright sides about how he and Jirou met and even how Mr. Aizawa took him in to help him reach his dreams. Even though he had told all this to me there were still a thing or two that I had questions about.

I let out a sigh as I tried to process all the information that had been unloaded onto me. "Well it makes complete sense now why Jirou wouldn't answer all my questions."

He let out a small laugh as he held onto Jirous jack. "Yeah, it's kind of a lot to grasp."

"That would be the understatement of the century." Looking at the two of them now, it's hard to imagine that they had broken up. Even if she wouldn't blatantly admit it there was no doubt in my mind that she still cared for him.

"So why did you two break up in the first place?" A surprised look spread across both of their faces. "You said you'd tell me everything."

The two of them shared a look before Midori sighed. "Well to keep it as simple as possible I left without telling her anything."

"Hmm I can honestly say I wasn't expecting that." The two of them just shrugged. "But if he just left, did you guys decide to end it when you saw each other again?"

The two of them looked at each other with puzzled expressions. "Huh… I guess we both just assumed it was over. I mean we never actually said it was over."

"That doesn't matter." Jirou took a deep breath. "When you left without talking to me you might as well have been saying it's over between us."

I shook my head as I let out a sigh. "Honestly you two are both idiots."

"I know I am, but why is she one?"

"Just look at the two of you." They both looked at each other before looking at the little distance between them. "Anytime you two always seem to gravitate towards each other and whenever you're alone one of Jirou's jacks always finds its way wrapper around you."

Jirou put her hands up trying to deny it. "Yaomomo it's not like that… it's complicated."

I let out another sigh. "Fine, whatever you say." I looked out the window to the night sky before looking back at them. "During your fight with Todoroki everyone saw that scar on your chest. I'm not sure if you could tell but the entire atmosphere in the stands changed when that happened."

He let out a small laugh. "Yeah I couldn't tell. I was a little preoccupied with trying not to get burnt and there was also the pain from a dislocated shoulder."

"I figured as much." I looked at Jirou who had a nervous look on her face. "While everyone was focused on that scar Jirou was focused on the wrap on your arm."

He looked at her. "It's fine, I'm alright now. I told you before that some days are better than others."

"I'm guessing that's why you didn't come back to the stands after all your matches?" She tightened her jack on his arm.

"In a way… after the second match I was planning on going up, but I decided to clear my head and try to come up with a plan for him." He used his free arm to scratch his head. "We saw how well that one turned out."

"It was probably for the best that you didn't come up." They both turned towards me confused. "Yeah we were worried about you after your first match, but a student from 1-B decided to spend the entire time trying to provoke us. Based on everything you said so far there's a good chance it would have only made things worse."

Jirou nodded. "Yeah, but it would have been nice for you to at least send a text to let us know what's going on."

"I would have but you still have my phone Kyoka."

"What are you talking about no I… oh…" Her face started to turn red.

"You forgot I asked you to hold onto it didn't you?"

She gave him a small nod while looking away.

"It's alright I'll just get it tomorrow morning."

"Oh, speaking of tomorrow, I had a question about that."

He looked at me confused. "Umm… ok?"

"Jirou said that you had some plans tomorrow. She assumed it was with me, but that's obviously not the case. So what exactly do you have planned tomorrow?"

He let out a nervous laugh. "Well I actually have a session with Ms. Midnight tomorrow."

"So you're going to see your therapist."

"Well when you put it like that you make me sound like a crazy person."

Both Jirou and I gave him an expressionless look because of his sheer audacity to try and state that he wasn't crazy. "Midori, you can't be serious."

He stopped to think for a moment. "Point taken."

"Why didn't you just say that earlier instead of being so secretive?" Jirou twirled her free jack on her hand.

A smirk formed on Midori's face as he started to play with Jirou's jack that was wrapped around his arm. "Aww was someone getting jealous because I wasn't able to hang out with them?"

Her face turned red from his actions. "It.. it's not… it's not like that." She was clearly biting her tongue to not let slip up again.

"Really you two are something else." I stood up and made my way over to them.

"Both of us! I… I'm the victim here." She was still trying to hold back.

"I would say you're just as guilty." A small smirk spread across my face.

"What are you talking abou-" She was interrupted by a moan as I started to play with her other jack.

"It's not fair if Zuzu has all the fun of teasing you and you're just as guilty for making such a cute face." I continued to run my fingers over her jack.

Her face was a deep red now as she occasionally let out a soft moan. She had apparently had enough of our teasing when she sent out a vibration into our fingers that stung.

Midori started to laugh. "Well that was a fun way to get rid of all the tension in the room."

Jirou hid her jacks as she crossed her arms and mumbled. "Maybe for you two, but why is it always me?"

"Because you're easy to get flustered." Midori gave her a small smile.

"She's not the only one." I bent over in front of him and put my arms together to accentuate my chest to the point of it almost popping out."

He looked down at my chest without a shred of shame before looking me in the eyes. "You get flustered easily?"

"Dammit, why didn't that work? I'm certain any other guy in the class would have been looking like a tomato by now." I stood back up and crossed my arms.

"I wouldn't say that I don't think Iida would have reacted either." He gave me a smile.

"I don't know about that." We both turned to Jurou. "He seems to be sheltered, I'm sure if anyone showed the smallest bit of skin in a way that wasn't related to hero work he'd faint from a sudden lack of blood flowing to his brain."

The three of us bursted into laughter at the idea of Iida robotically fainting. Midori was right with what he said earlier, this was a fun way to get rid of the tension that surrounded the earlier conversation.

"Alright now it's my turn to ask a question." Both Jirou and I looked at Midori.

"What is it?"

"So what happened to the cheerleading outfits?"

Both Jirou and I looked at each other before looking back at him. "Wow it sure is getting late and you look like you need your rest."

"Yeah." Jirou stood up and made her way to the door with me. "So we're just gonna head back to our rooms."

The two of us quickly made our way out of his room and into the hall. We couldn't help but laugh at the annoyed look on his face as the door closed.

"Oh man, that face he made was priceless." Jirou couldn't stop laughing.

"I know, did he really want to see us in those that badly? I don't recall us even agreeing to that."

"You know maybe it wouldn't be such a bad idea though."

I stopped and looked at her confused. "What are you talking about? Out of all the girls in the class you were the most opposed to wearing them."

Jirou started to twirl her jack in her hand again. "Well I'm sure we could use them to get him flustered."

I stopped to think for a minute. "Maybe so, I guess you'd know better than anyone else what would get to him."

She gave a sly smile as we continued towards our rooms. "I may have a few ideas."

I looked at her with a little suspicion. "Are you sure you're ok with this?"

She turned to me slightly confused. "What do you mean?"

"You obviously still have feelings for him. Are you sure you're ok with me doing this?"

She shook her head. "I don't see anything wrong with a little harmless flirting. It's not like we're still together."

I rolled my eyes at her. "You say that now, but I still think you should tell him how you feel. If you don't I may just end up snatching him up for myself."

She narrowed her gaze towards me. "So you say."