Author Notes:
Hey everyone, I'm back to crossposting my stuff from AO3! This fic has been up for a while there, but I'm lazy, so I just never bothered to do this before now. I'll do my best to upload more chapters of this on a regular basis until it catches up to the AO3 version.
Before we get started, there's a few things I want to establish in terms of events that are canon to this fic, which takes place in third year. First, UA is a three-year technical university here, so all characters are well over 18. Second, the plot of MHA comes up in this fic, specifically the resolution. Partially because this fic was started very early into the ongoing arc of the manga, and partially because I think trying to rewrite canon events is stupid, I'm just going to say that Izuku beat Shigaraki, everyone else helped beat the League, and things got wrapped up nice and neat well before the start of third year. As a result of this victory, pretty much everyone in class 1-A (now class 3-A) is pretty famous, especially Izuku.
Also, here's a link to the Discord server where I write and do a lot of brainstorming for my way-too-many fics: /EdqrbRC
With that out of the way, I hope you enjoy!
The neatly bound stack of magazines arrived at the same time it always did, 7 A.M. sharp. After being thrown over the UA University fence by a paper boy who had gotten that job for his trebuchet-arm quirk, the heavy pile of trashy tabloids bounced to a stop in the same place it always did-right in front of the Class 3-A dorms.
Perhaps receiving physical copies of the gossip rags was a little old-fashioned, but then, these specific readers had another reason for subscribing to such prestigious publications beyond reading stories claiming that Miruko had cheated on Hawks with Best Jeanist (she hadn't, and wasn't even dating Hawks for that matter), or that Endeavor had been replaced with an alien impostor who was intentionally being nicer than Endeavor to make people trust him (okay, maybe they were onto something there.)
No, they had money riding on these breathless reports of nonexistent drama.
Seconds after the magazines thunked against the ground in front of the door, a floating pair of shorts and a t-shirt pulled open the exit and grabbed them with a shout of "They're here!" before disappearing once again into the dorms.
As the floating garments (who preferred the name Hagakure Tooru, thank you very much) lugged the foot-tall stack of cheap newsprint into the common room, her friend Ashido Mina addressed the students who had gathered for one of the class's most beloved traditions.
"Alright everyone, are you ready for another installment of "What Did The Tabloids Make Up Today?" You've all placed your bets, right?" Ashido asked her assembled classmates. About half of the class was present, with the others sleeping or, God forbid, training.
Eager faces nodded back at her; people started to call out their predictions.
"I think that today's gonna break the Kirishima-Bakugo streak!" Sero called out.
"That's their new favorite one, not likely! I'm calling it now, you're gonna get put with Monoma or something!" Kaminari retorted.
Sero frowned. "Really, man, what did I do to deserve that?" he complained.
"Both of you, shut up! My money's on them continuing that Yaomomo harem thing they had last week!" Uraraka interrupted, rubbing her hands together in anticipation.
Yaoyorozu blushed as people looked at her; they all recalled the previous issue, when one tabloid swore that it had insider information revealing that the tall, refined girl had seduced multiple male members of their class. At once.
"Can we not talk about that?" Yaoyorozu asked, "I don't need to be reminded of Ashido's jokes again."
Uraraka shook her head as she replied teasingly, "No can do, Yaomomo. If it hurts your feelings, maybe you can go get Deku, Todoroki, and Kirishima to cheer you up."
"Says the girl who's "supposedly" dating Asui and her ridiculous tongue," Yaoyorozu cracked, making several people splutter.
"What does that mean?" Uraraka asked, tilting her head curiously.
"You know exactly what I mean, Uraraka," Yaoyorozu said with a knowing smile.
"She does, kero," Tsu agreed from where she was sitting in the brown-haired girl's lap.
At that moment, the lump splayed out on the pillows next to Yaoyorozu groaned and slowly raised back into a sitting position, revealing itself to be a bleary-eyed, red-faced Kyoka Jirou.
"Why did I let you drag me down here again, Yaomomo?" Kyoka asked in a long-suffering tone, "I don't need to hear this."
"Because it's better than sitting up in your room doing nothing, which is what you would be doing," her best friend pointed out.
"I wouldn't be doing nothing, I'd be...I don't know, listening to music or something!" Kyoka protested.
"Ah yes, music! That stuff's going to ruin your ears someday, you know!" Yaoyorozu said in an over-the-top old-lady voice, "isn't spending time with friends better for you?"
Kyoka gave an exaggerated pout as she retorted, "At least I don't read trashy romance novels, Yaomomo."
The taller girl went red at the mention of the stack of bodice-rippers Kyoka knew was stashed underneath her enormous bed.
"Traitor," Yaoyorozu muttered.
Then, Ashido chimed in, "Are you sure you didn't show up to find out if you'll finally show up on the Dekuboard?"
She gestured to the wall nearby, which tracked all of the crazy connections the tabloids had imagined among their class with enough red string to put a conspiracy theorist to shame. In the middle of the wall was Midoriya's picture, the number of strings linking it to each person around the edge of the circle showing the number of times that the green-haired man had been paired with each member of the class. It wasn't just their class, either; plenty of Class 3-B was represented, as were a few pro heroes, something that really confused everyone involved.
He'd been dubbed the "Hottest Upcoming Hero" by Heroes Weekly a few months before, much to his shock and nobody else's. Since then, he'd been the target of an endless tide of speculation and media frenzy over who he was secretly dating; apparently nobody had told them that Midoriya was a shy, sweet nerd who still stammered when he saw Yaoyorozu's hero costume. The poor boy wouldn't know how to ask someone out if he had step-by-step instructions and three months to practice.
Kyoka scanned the chart for her picture, even though she knew exactly what she would find.
It was completely unconnected; not a single article had linked her with Midoriya, making her the only person in the class who nobody thought would be dating their resident cute badass, or anyone else for that matter.
It's not like she minded, of course! Kyoka found the guy as aesthetically appealing as anyone with eyes did, especially since he'd shot up and filled out so much over the past year, sure. Add in the fact that he was so sweet, and yeah, Kyoka would readily admit to herself that she wouldn't be against getting to know him better.
But at the same time, she also wasn't in any rush to do that. She was doing pretty well in classes, she was close to finally becoming a hero like she'd dreamed. She didn't need to complicate things.
But oh, did it burn, seeing Bakugo getting more people saying that he was with Midoriya. It felt like she'd been forgotten entirely, somehow, and that brought up bad memories. Even then, though, she couldn't exactly blame the tabloids for ignoring her.
As much as she hated herself for saying it, she was being realistic: who would look twice at her when girls like Yaomomo existed?
Speaking of her best friend, the taller woman had noticed Kyoka's face slowly morphing into dejection. Yaoyorozu nudged her petite friend in the side, making Kyoka jolt and look at her questioningly.
"You don't have to stay, you know," Yaoyorozu told her quietly, "we can leave."
Kyoka shook her head; she knew Yaomomo enjoyed this chance to laugh at silly tabloid articles with their friends, and Kyoka didn't want to rain on that parade.
As Mina ripped open the plastic wrapping and started to distribute the magazines, Kyoka replied, "Nah, it's fine."
Yaoyorozu raised an eyebrow, clearly not buying it, but then magazines landed in both of their laps, and Kyoka buried herself in examining the latest breathless nonsense the hero tabloids had come up with for their class.
Seriously, she knew that UA third years usually got a bunch of media attention before they'd even graduated, since they usually went on to reach the highest levels of heroics, but having entire sections of the tabloids specifically devoted to them was getting a little much.
As she read, Kyoka grumbled to herself, "Seriously, help take down one little supervillain and his army and suddenly you're national celebrities."
Sure, she was proud of how her class had helped take down the League in just their second year, but she still wasn't comfortable with the endless media attention on them that had resulted. Maybe she never would be.
Around her, she started to hear people calling out their finds and swapping money when they won or lost bets. Tooru marked down changes to the Dekuboard as they went. Kyoka only managed to pick out a few snatches of the conversations as she continued reading.
"Hey Sato, you owe me a thousand yen! Todoroki's supposedly dating you now!" Kirishima called. The muscular man sighed good-naturedly as he passed the money over.
"Well, this is new. Me and Ashido?" Yaoyorozu observed.
"Hey Uraraka, here's another tally for you on the Dekuboard! How does that make you feel?" Mina called.
"Look, just because I used to have a crush on him doesn't mean I get all flustered every time you do this!" Uraraka retorted, "besides, I'm taken!"
"She is, kero," Tsu agreed, wrapping her tongue around Uraraka's waist.
Kyoka would have enjoyed watching Ashido start teasing them, but at that moment, she read something that made her jaw drop in disbelief.
A headline jumped out from the page in front of her, screaming, " IS EARPHONE JACK REALLY HEROINE MATERIAL?"
It got worse from there, Kyoka realized as she scanned the beginning of the story, which read:
One of the saddest but biggest truths in heroics is that if you want people to trust you to save them, you have to look the part. In this regard, one might think that UA's famous Class 3-A is more than perfect for heroics. Just look at Creati, Uravity, Pinky, Froppy, or even Invisible Girl for proof of that-those are some curvy heroines! But while we may be in good hands with those five, the sixth female hero of 3-A is, sadly, not quite as stunning.
Earphone Jack, only daughter of two prominent rock musicians (and isn't that a curious coincidence, a young woman aiming for a prestigious career when her parents would benefit from the exposure?) doesn't seem to fit in with the other women who helped bring down the League of Villains. For one thing, she's more of a tomboy than an appealing heroine, making her more endearing than exciting to watch. She's got a certain boyish charm about her, certainly, but she's not going to really get people going when she needs to. More than that, how can she stand out next to icons of grace and beauty like Creati? Let's face it; Earphone Jack is a sideshow, and a rude, crass one, too. Recall six months ago, when she was involved in…"
There were pictures, too, of her yelling at a civilian (who had been walking into a live firefight to take pictures like a fucking idiot), and her next to Yaomomo, as if inviting people to compare them and find Kyoka lacking.
The article kept going, but Kyoka had seen enough. She threw the magazine down on the table, struggling to control herself.
It wasn't the parts calling her a "tomboy" and implying that she was a useless hero because she wasn't "sexy" that annoyed her; she'd heard that shit so many times she didn't really care about it anymore. It was a hazard of the career she'd chosen, and she'd gotten pretty good at tamping down the disgust she felt at it.
No, what Kyoka was really getting mad about was how the article perved over her friends, like they were there to entertain people and not save their damn lives! Plus, implying that her becoming a hero was a publicity stunt for her parents?
Kyoka remembered how much she'd agonized over having to choose between her dreams, even if she'd managed to find a compromise in the end. And now these fuckers were acting like she'd faked the whole thing?
She was fucking pissed, and about five seconds away from yelling at someone.
How dare they?
Then, a calming, familiar hand landed on her shoulder. Kyoka snapped out of her rage long enough to see Yaomomo looking at her with concern.
Softly, Kyoka's best friend prompted, "Are you okay, Jirou?"
Kyoka took a deep breath, but it didn't do much. She was tempted to lie, but she knew from experience that Yaomomo could see right through her when she wanted to.
"You know what? No, I'm really not," Kyoka admitted.
Yaomomo grimaced. "How can I help?" she asked.
Kyoka didn't blame Yaoyorozu in the slightest for any of this (the amount of shit the tall girl had to go through for her costume choice alone was more than Kyoka could ever imagine dealing with), but she didn't really want to snap at her best friend because she was in a shitty mood, either.
"I think I'm just going to take a walk," Kyoka decided, getting up from the couch.
Yaomomo nodded. "Go ahead. I can bring your stuff to class for you."
"Thank you, Yaomomo, you're the best," Kyoka said.
Her best friend just smiled as Kyoka left the chaotic common room behind.
Nobody responded to her walking out the front door and into a clear spring day.
She wondered if that was a sign.
Kyoka walked along the trails on UA's campus for a while, breathing deeply and trying to forget about stupid perverts who wrote disgusting articles for trashy publications, when she came across something she hadn't been expecting.
Or rather, someone.
Izuku Midoriya was casually resting on a bench, still wearing regular clothes, which confused Kyoka because she had thought he had been out on a training run.
Looking around, Kyoka couldn't help but feel a sense of peace. The area was deep enough into the forest surrounding UA that it was entirely silent except for birdsong; the trees grew up high enough to cover the whole clearing where the bench was in cool, steady shade. The air was sweet and fresh, with a hint of a spring breeze. She could see why Midoriya was staying here.
She must have made a noise or something, because Midoriya suddenly sat upright and looked at her, startled.
"Oh, hey, Jirou! I wasn't expecting to see you here!" he said.
Despite herself, Kyoka smiled. Midoriya was always good to talk to, no matter whether it was serious or not. She was still curious why he was just...sitting there, though.
"Hey, Midoriya. What are you doing out here? I figured you were out training or something," she asked.
Midoriya grinned sheepishly. Rubbing the back of his head, he replied, "Uh, yeah, I was kinda just...waiting out here."
Plopping herself down on the bench next to him, Kyoka pressed, "Waiting for what?"
"Uh…" Midoriya said uncertainly, "for, um, for them to be done with their little...tabloid thing."
The great thing about having insanely good hearing, Kyoka reflected, was that you could tell when people were telling the truth or not. And right now, Midoriya was telling the truth, which was incredibly confusing.
"Wait, why? They're all in there talking about how everyone thinks you're attractive! Why wouldn't you want to be in there?" Kyoka wondered, hoping that the envy she felt wasn't creeping into her voice too much.
Midoriya looked embarrassed again as he answered, "It, um...it kinda makes me uncomfortable, honestly."
"Why? You're officially the "Hottest Upcoming Hero," after all," Kyoka said lightly, enjoying the sight of the blush that spread across Midoriya's handsome features at her words.
"Please don't call me that," he muttered, "I'm really not."
Kyoka stared at the green-haired man in disbelief. Didn't he realize how attractive he was?
"Y-you're kidding, right? You do know you deserved that award!" she stammered, trying to ignore the flood of sudden...was that hope? Pity, maybe? Definitely confusion, with a dash of empathy; Kyoka knew what it was like to think you weren't attractive.
Midoriya looked at her like a deer in headlights, his brain clearly frozen.
They stared at each other for a few seconds, not understanding. Kyoka felt a blush creep across her own cheeks, mirroring Midoriya's.
Finally, he coughed and asked, "So, uh, why are you out here, Jirou?"
Grateful for the change in subject, Kyoka replied, "I, um, saw something in one of the tabloids that...it really pissed me off, so I thought I would come out here to get some fresh air."
"What was it that made you angry?" Midoriya asked gently, before rushing to add, "you don't have to tell me if you don't want to, of course!"
In retrospect, Kyoka had no idea why she was so honest about her experience with Midoriya. She hadn't even told Yaomomo about what had caused her outburst!
But something about the place, the peacefulness and the calm of speaking without holding back with someone under a clear blue sky, made her open up.
So she told him, "There was an article about me, in the magazine. It...it wasn't very kind."
Midoriya was quiet; he motioned for her to continue, and something about his encouraging smile and understanding eyes made her do so.
Pulling her knees up onto the bench and hugging them, Kyoka sighed, "They said a bunch of things about me; most of it-no, actually, all of it-was bullshit. But they more or less said I wasn't attractive enough to be a hero. Like it matters at all, right? And worse than that, it kept comparing me to the other girls in our class, and the things it was saying about them…"
Kyoka trailed off; she didn't really feel the need to go into detail. Midoriya nodded along, clearly thinking.
Finally, as the silence between them stretched on, comfortable and warm, Midoriya said, "I'm sorry that happened to you, for what it's worth, Jirou. I can't imagine how you must feel."
Kyoka shrugged as she replied, "Thanks, but I'm...well, not used to it, but it doesn't bother me anymore. Who gives a shit what they think, right? It's not like they're the ones who get to decide whether I'm a hero."
Midoriya nodded emphatically. "You're right, they don't," he agreed.
Kyoka leaned back and stretched out, looking up at the cloudless sky. She said, "I do actually want to know something, Midoriya, if you don't mind."
"Go ahead, Jirou," he responded, "fire away."
She thought for a long second, about how it felt to see your own name on a page and knowing that the person on the other side of it had a very different view of who you were than you had of yourself.
Kyoka asked, "How do you handle it? The attention, I mean. I almost never see my name in papers or anything and it's still shocking and upsetting when stuff like this happens. I can't imagine what you must go through."
Midoriya looked sheepish. "I, ah, I don't really know how I handle it," he admitted, "I think I just tune it out, mostly. The first time I saw something that got published about me, I forgot how to breathe for a while. I'm just sort of...hoping they'll go away eventually."
Kyoka laced her hands behind her head as she sprawled out on the bench even more. Tilting to look at the equally relaxed Midoriya, she teased, "Yeah, I don't think that's going to happen, Mister Rising Pillar."
Midoriya winced a little at one of the names he'd been given in the wake of his public defeat of Shigaraki; whatever literary genius had come up with it had apparently neglected to brush up on their euphemisms first.
"You know," he mused, "when I got the "Hottest Upcoming Hero" thing, I thought that it was a pity vote, or maybe just a sort of "thank you" for the whole League business."
Kyoka coughed, " Bullshit. You earned that."
Midoriya turned his head towards her, curiosity plain on his face. "I'm sorry, I didn't catch that. What did you say?" he asked.
"Oh, um, nothing!" Kyoka said cheerily, her face flushing red.
They sat in silence again for a moment, before Kyoka decided that it was her turn to change the subject.
"You know, I didn't see much of your fight with Shigaraki up close," she said, "but I saw the pictures that some ballsy reporter got later, and I always wondered something…"
Midoriya thought back to a day of screams and chaos and frantic combat; he recalled the bloody smile he'd worn, more of a grimace than a grin. He'd won in the end, but he'd have been lying if he said he still didn't wake up sometimes with Shigaraki's hand reaching towards his face.
He knew who had gotten him through that fear and let him strike that final blow; the issue was, that person was sitting next to him, and she had no idea what she'd done.
Looking up into the sky and a year into the past, Kyoka finished, "When you were about to beat Shigaraki, you had this look on your face...it was the most determined I've ever seen you look, but you also have this...peacefulness in your eyes, like you were thinking of something happier you're fighting for. What was it?"
"You," Midoriya thought, "I was thinking of you, and your smile especially."
He'd known it then and he knew it now, but he couldn't tell her, she had a temper and also very pointy jacks she liked to stab idiots with, and he was definitely being an idiot right now.
Instead, he said, "I, um, I don't remember."
Kyoka eyed him suspiciously; her ears had picked up the stutter that told her he was lying.
She decided not to push it; she didn't have a right to know his thoughts.
Instead, Midoriya changed the subject yet again.
He said, "You know, people who think you're not "attractive" enough to be a hero...Honestly, I...I think they're…"
"You think they're what?" Kyoka prompted, seeing Midoriya struggling to get the words out.
Taking a deep breath to gather himself, Midoriya blurted out, " Wrong . They're wrong, Jirou."
Kyoka was so confused. "What do you mean? That I'm attractive enough to be a hero?" she asked.
Midoriya shook his head slightly. "Not to be a hero, no, attractiveness doesn't matter for that," he clarified.
Kyoka could feel her face getting as red as Midoriya's already was. She stammered, "T-then what do you mean? That I'm…"
She couldn't even finish the sentence, the thought felt so strange in her head.
She had never considered beauty to be one of her strengths; she wasn't cut up about it, either. She was more than fine being a good musician and a good hero, regardless of her looks. She really just didn't care.
Even though she wasn't sure, the possibility that Midoriya thought she was attractive made it feel like her world was flipping upside down.
Kyoka wasn't the attractive one, or the one people were drawn to; that was Yaomomo, or maybe Ashido. She was just fine with that, it left her more free to pursue the things she enjoyed, none of which gave a fuck about how she looked.
Before Kyoka could organize her whirling thoughts or push Midoriya for an answer, though, a bell rang out across UA's campus; it meant they had ten minutes to get to class.
Neither of them had realized they'd spent so long out here in the quiet, shady forest. They leapt up in unison, heading towards the main building. Kyoka saw that Midoriya had his bag with him; she hadn't even noticed that before.
"I guess he really was just hiding out here, huh?" she thought.
As they headed to class, Kyoka said, "Hold that thought, Midoriya. I want to continue this tonight, okay?"
The green-haired man paled at the thought; he'd come dangerously close to having thoughts he'd kept close to his chest for a while now forcibly extracted, and it scared him how naturally they had almost rolled off his tongue.
But he wasn't going to say no to Jirou.
"Okay," he agreed, "we'll come back to this tonight."