IZUKU POV

Week two of training for the Provisional License Exam was going just about as well as anyone would have expected. Pops had his hands full watching all of the progress. I was certain he wasn't getting much sleep, but that wasn't slowing him down from pressing us on.

The first week spent a lot of time making sure I had the basics down of how to use the scarf. Even though it took him six years to master it, he was confident that I would be able to have it down within a year. The confidence he put in me is what led me to my current task of trying to capture and locate the resident invisible girl of our class.

It normally would have been a relatively simple task, but thanks to all the training we've done since the beginning of the year her acrobatic skills had greatly improved. Invisibility and the ability to move like a world class is an annoying combination. The only thing that made this a little easier was the fact I could use my quirk to identify where she was at the entire time.

"Oh come on, how are you able to track me perfectly with every step?!" Hagakure screamed in annoyance as she dodged another end of the scarf.

I pulled back on the scarf to ready myself for another attempt. "I'm just following the sound of your footsteps."

She let out a sigh. "That's just one more thing I need to work on."

A small smile adorned my face. "I'm sure Pops can give you a few tips."

"Pops, you mean Mr. Aizawa?"

"Yeah, that's what I meant."

"You know that's not the first time you've called him that, what's that all about?"

I stepped back and scratched my cheek. "Well I mean he kind of acts like a class dad."

Hagakure started to laugh before charging at me. "Whatever you say Mr. Glow Up."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Her comment caused me to panic momentarily as I threw out the scarf again.

Her comment made me lose focus and throw the scarf higher than intended. She slid under the scarf and continued her charger at me. Quickly pulling back on the scarf I tried to throw out the second end to gain some separation between us. She easily sidestepped the second and gave me a gentle shove showing that she had one.

"Hell yeah! It's about time I got a win!"

"Nice one, but the only reason you got me was because of that comment."

She laughed a little. "Maybe so, but weren't you the one that said something along the lines that villains don't play fair?"

I let out a sigh as I fixed the capture scarf. "Yeah, I said something like that, but it's not as much fun when it gets turned on you."

She slapped me on the back. "Well now you know how it feels to be on the receiving end."

"I already knew what it felt like, I just didn't expect you to pull it off."

She let off an annoyed stomp. "And what's that supposed to mean?"

I laughed before starting to walk away. "I just didn't think you'd be the first in the class to say something to catch me off guard."

She jogged to catch up to me. "You probably expected it to be Jirou."

"Actually I'm not too worried about her."

Even though I couldn't see the expression I was certain she was looking at me confused. "Wow, talk about a bad boyfriend. You should have more faith in her."

I couldn't help but laugh at her comment. "You could say that again, but the reason I'm not worried about her is because I'm always on guard when it comes to her."

"Do you not trust her or something?"

"I trust her completely and that's why I'm always on guard."

"That makes no sense whatsoever."

I laughed to myself while walking away from her. "Maybe so, but it's true."

Our day of training had come to an end. Everyone was ready to get back to the dorm to enjoy their time. As I came out of the locker room I found Kyoka leaning against a wall waiting for me. She was busy staring at her phone while twirling her jack.

"You're late."

I raised an eye at her. "How am I late when we had nothing planned for the day?"

"I had to wait five minutes for you. You take forever to change."

I rolled my eyes at her before starting to walk down the hall. "Excuse me for trying to keep my scars hidden. You know it's not getting any easier, ever since the training camp I keep getting asked why I always wear long sleeves or a hoodie."

She kept her eyes glued to her phone as she caught up to me. "Why don't you tell them already, it's better to get it out sooner than later."

I let out a sigh. "You do realize you're talking to a walking timebomb of trust issues. Hell the only reason I told Yaomomo everything was because I wasn't given much of a choice."

She looked up at her phone momentarily before looking back at it. "You still struggle a lot don't you?"

I nodded. "Yeah, but it's getting easier slowly but surely."

"Do you trust Momo?"

I stopped to think for a moment. She hadn't done anything to prove that I couldn't trust her, but at the same time I could never be too careful. "The jury is still out on that one."

Kyoka looked up from her phone and put her hands on her hips. "Why? She's kept quiet on everything and I mean everything."

"Go thirteen years of not being able to trust anyone. It causes you to be skeptical."

It was her turn to let out a sigh. "Who all do you trust?"

"You, Pops, Mama Joke, Ms. Midnight, and Auntie Mitsuki."

She raised an eye at me. "Not my parents?"

I started to walk again. "They're in the same boat as Yaomomo. Your mother terrifies me and your dad… well he's your dad."

She shrugged before walking with me. "I guess that makes sense, just don't let them hear that."

I laughed as I took her hand. "I don't plan on it."

She smiled as our fingers interlocked. "So I heard Hagakure beat you in training today, were you taking it easy to boost her confidence?"

I shook my head. "No, she actually said something to cause me to lose focus."

Kyoka looked at me surprised. "What did she say?"

"She called me 'Mr. Glow Up'. It really surprised me."

Kyoka came to a stop. "She did what?"

I look back at her confused. "Is everything alright?"

It was faint but I could feel her hand tremble. "I'm sorry Izuku, that's my fault."

"What are you talking about?"

Kyoka looked to the ground trying to avoid my eyes. "The… the other day when you were out with Mama Joke, the girls came and asked questions about us. They… they all know that we knew each other before UA and they saw the old picture of us."

"Oh… is that all?"

Her answer was a small nod.

I let out a sigh before pulling her along with me. "If that's it, there's nothing to worry about. The guys have been asking me about it as well. Surprisingly Kaminari has been quiet about that stuff ever since the training camp."

Her hand gently squeezed mine. "You're not mad?

"Why would I be? I mean sure it's embarrassing having them all know what I used to look like, but everyone looked different in middle school."

A smile adorned her face again. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

"Hey Kyoka, want to go somewhere this afternoon?"

"Do I need to dress up fancy?"

I chuckled at her question. "No, just your normal clutches would be fine."

She pretended to think about her answer. "I don't know, I told Uraraka and Hagakure I'd teach them a little guitar this afternoon. I guess I could tell them something came up."

I kissed her hand as we got to the dorms. "I think they'd understand."

After changing and a quick train ride we found ourselves walking through a familiar area. It didn't take long for Kyoka to pick up on where we were going, but she decided to play along and not spoil it. Before we knew it, we were sitting on the bench where we first met.

She let out a contempt sigh before leaning on my shoulder. "This brings back some memories doesn't it?"

I nodded in agreement. "Who would have ever guessed it would have turned out this way?"

She laughed to herself. "I sure didn't, but the universe had different ideas."

"Yeah, it certainly does."

She looked up at me confused. "What's on your mind?"

"A lot."

She tightened her grip on my hand. "I'm all ears."

I softly smiled at her response. "I'm pretty sure this is where you used that the first time."

"Yeah, but I bet you never thought I'd keep using it?"

"Two years and it's never gotten old."

She let out a small laugh before readjusting herself. "So you brought me here for a reason, are you going to tell me or not?"

I let out a sigh. "You always knowing what I'm thinking has gotten old very fast."

"I don't always know, just most of the time."

"It's the same difference."

She playfully shoved me. "Enough with the semantics. What's on your mind?"

I had to swallow the lump in my throat before I could speak. "I… um… I'm thinking about-"

"Oh my God Midoriya, you should have told me you were going to be in town!"

Kyoka and I looked down the hill to see three people approaching us. Kyoka tightened the grip on my hand an uncomfortable amount, I couldn't blame her though. I can't think of anyone who wouldn't be annoyed if three random girls called out to their boyfriend.

I gave them a nervous wave as Kyoka glared at me. "H… hey Yukihira."

Kyoka's eyes softened ever so slightly after hearing it was someone she had come in contact with before. She leaned in slightly and whispered. "This better not be what you were thinking about."

I gulped nervously at venom in her words. "I swear it's not."

"Oh wow it really is him."

"It was a real shock seeing him on TV."

Kyoka eyed the other two as she continued to whisper. "Who are the other two Izuku

"They were also in my class."

"Oh..." Her eyes hardened again.

"But they never partook in the bullying."

"Oh." Her eyes began to soften again.

"But they never tried to stop it either."

"Izuku, that's one comment to many."

"If I didn't say anything you would have known and been mad."

"Shush."

When the three of them reached us, Yukihira looked at us oddly. "What was with all the whispering?"

"It was nothing." I laughed nervously.

Yukihira looked at Kyoka before sniffing softly. "Have we met before?"

Kyoka was doing her best to force a smile. "Once, my family came to your restaurant a couple years ago."

A light clicked in her head as she put her hands together. "You were the person I mistook for Midoriya."

Kyoka let out an awkward laugh while fiddling with a jack. "Yep, that was me."

Yukihira smiled at her softly. "Sorry about that… also thank you."

Kyoka looked at her and gave her a genuine smile. "Don't mention it."

One of the other girls with long silver hair with a purple streak in the front coughed. "Midoriya, would you mind introducing us to your friend?"

I quickly stood up and motioned towards Kyoka. "Sorry, this is my girlfriend Kyoka Jirou. We both are in the Hero Course of UA."

Kyoka gave them a small wave. "Nice to meet you."

I motioned to the three other girls. "The one with blonde hair and red streak is Simi Yukihira, but I'm guessing you already knew that."

Yukihira gave her a small nod. "It's good to see you again."

"The one with the silver hair and purple strip is Alas Yusa."

Yusa gave a small wave. "Hello."

"The one with the auburn hair is Mio Sasaki."

Sasaki turned to me surprised. "Wow I didn't think you'd actually remember us."

Yusa laughed at the comment. "I know right, especially since we only had one actual conversation."

I scratched the side of my head nervously. "I remember more than people tend to give me credit for."

"It's true, in two years he's not once forgotten how to be an asshole."

I looked over at Kyoka in shock as she just smirked at me. "Why? Why would you use that as an example? Why not say the rubber band I use in my hair or even how I still do those Godforsaken warmups every day before playing guitar?"

Yusa and Sasaki busted into laughter while Yukihira played with the red streak in her hair. "I wouldn't call him that."

Yusa looked at Yukihira like she was crazy. "Well how else would you describe someone who left without any explanation and left us all to think the worst. Hell you even fainted when Bakugo told you."

"You know Alas is right, Simi. But a few good things did come from it." Sasaki couldn't help but smile.

"I know, Bakugo actually started to be nice…er to people, that being said he still did get into fights with anyone who bad talked Midoriya."

"Oh, so that's when Bakugo started to change."

The three of them looked at me completely shocked. "What did you just call him Midoriya?"

"Oh, that's right I forgot you always heard the nickname. Well a lot has changed since then."

Kyoka looked at us confused. "What's this about a nickname?"

I let out a sigh. "I wasn't the only one that had a nickname. Bakugo had one as well."

The three other girls started to laugh. Apparently our interactions with each other were funny to them. When they stopped laughing Yukihira turned to Kyoka. "So if you've known each other for two years I guess it's safe to assume you were the girl he was with before he left."

Kyoka nodded. "Yeah, he's been quite a handful."

Sasaki looked confused. "Wait, Simi I thought you said the girl that gave you the note thought he was gone as well?"

Kyoka softly smiled. "I didn't, just like everyone else I was in the dark."

Yusa gave us a surprised look. "And you two got back together?"

"Yeah, a lot has happened."

Yukihira gave a somber expression. "That's… great."

I looked at her with a slight concern. "Is everything-"

Before I could finish, Yukihira's phone went off. She jumped slightly before answering. "Hey mom what's up?… no way that's awesome!… yeah, we're on our way, we just ran into some old friends on the way back… uh sure just give me a second…". Yukihira looked at Kyoka and myself. "Would you two like to come over for dinner?"

Kyoka and I looked at each other before giving her a smile and shaking our heads no.

She nodded before going back to her call. "They can't come mom… yeah, maybe next time… alright we will, see you soon." Yukihira let out a sigh after hanging up. "Sorry about that."

Kyoka laughed a little. "It's fine, but if you don't mind me asking what did you get so excited about?"

I gave Kyoka a weird look. "Why is she asking? I know for a fact she could hear that conversation perfectly."

Yukihira's face lit up. "There's a festival happening the Saturday before the next semester starts and our food stall application was just approved!"

I looked at Kyoka who was giving me a sly smirk. "Oh, I see, you just wanted to go to a festival."

Yusa looked at Yukihira confused. "Don't you guys run a stall every year?"

Sasaki put a finger to her chin. "I'm pretty sure there would be a riot if the best performing stall for the past twenty years didn't get approved."

Yukihira's face started to turn red. "I know, but this year my parents finally said that my recipe was good enough to use."

I looked at her intrigued. "Oh really what is it?"

She gave us a wink. "That's a secret. You'll have to come and fight the crowd to find out."

"Well we can't make any promises on that." Kyoka looked away from them.

Yukihira looked as if her sails had the wind sucked out of them. "What? Why not?"

I scratched the back of my head. "It's nothing personal, it's just we have our Provisional License exam the next day. We can't do all our fighting the night before."

Sasaki's eyes lit up. "Wait, does that mean you'll officially be heroes?"

"Sort of, there are a bunch of technicalities to it."

"Still that's so cool! The dream of the first quirkless hero will be a reality." Yusa seemed oddly proud.

"Yeah, well atleast one step closer." I nervously laughed.

"Still, that's awesome." Yukihira looked at both of us with a smile. "Do your best ok, I can't wait to hear good news… from the both of you."

"Thanks Yukihira."

Yukihira seemed to have life returned to her. "Well we should get going, sorry for interrupting your date."

Sasaki threw her hand in excitement. "Oh yeah, I'm starving."

Yusa waved at us. "We'll see you around."

Kyoka and I waved as they left. We watched them leave in silence. When they finally were out of earshot I sighed.

"You can stop your nonverbal signals of claiming me."

Kyoka kept looking at them as they got further away. "I have no clue what you're talking about."

"Kyoka I lost feeling in my arm five minutes ago because of how tightly you were wrapping your jack around it.

"She loosened her coil, but still didn't look at me. "I thought you secretly loved the sensation of your arm going numb?"

"I do, I also enjoy the cool breeze that blows in the park." I closed my eyes and stretched.

"What about the sound of rain while sitting in silence?"

"It's a melody to my ears."

"What about the way lighting can make water on skin seem like it's glistening?"

"It's a magical site." I took her hand in mine and interlocked our fingers.

She smiled as she squeezed my hand. "Do you stare at your phone for hours waiting for a call?"

"It's been awhile since I last had to do that. Recently the person that I would be waiting for has been by my side every chance they get."

"Do you remember what it feels like to ruin something you've longed for?"

"Every single day I'm reminded of it and all the time that was lost."

Kyoka faintly smiled as she stared at the horizon. "Never forget it Izuku, because I know I won't."

"I promise I won't."

"Good."

I laughed as I held her hand. "I think you forgot one?"

She looked at me with a smile. "I already know the answer to that one."

I gave her a small smirk. "Just humor me."

She playfully rolled her eyes at me. "Do you love the taste of blackberries on your lips?"

I took my free hand and brushed one of her bangs behind her ear before kissing her. "It's like a fine wine that gets sweeter with time."

Kyoka laughed at my response before kissing me again. "I'm glad I humored you."

I smiled as I looked into her onyx eyes. "I'm glad you listened in during that conversation."

She looked away embarrassed. "You knew about that?"

"I had a hunch, but I didn't want to straight out ask you."

"I'm glad you didn't, that would have been more embarrassing than this."

I loved seeing the shy, embarrassed side of Kyoka. It was a stark contrast to the cool, calm, and collected side she had during class. I was glad I was one of the only people to see this side of her.

"Hey Kyoka, can I ask you a question?"

"Of course."

"What exactly happened with you and Kaminari? That day he said you were his girlfriend, but it was obviously a lie. I know you didn't like him, but it felt like there was truth behind his words."

She let out a sigh before sitting back down on the bench. "We met while cleaning the beach, he showed up one day and and tried to talk to me. I ignored him, but he kept coming back. Eventually I warmed up to him and we became friends."

"There was never anything more?"

She looked at me with a mixture of annoyance and hurt. "Of course not! He asked me out multiple times and each time I said no. One time he was extremely persistent and the only way I could get him to shut up is by saying ``I'd think about it.' Even then I never had any intentions of dating him. He was just a cool guy that I wanted to be friends with."

"I see, well that's good to know."

She looked at me curiously. "Wait, did you ask him those questions to see if we had been together?"

I started to laugh. "Yeah, I told you I felt like there was some truth to his words. If he was able to answer any of those I probably would have believed him and started to leave you alone."

She leaned into my shoulder and closed her eyes. "There's no way that would have happened dumbass. If you had believed him I would have bursted through the door and set everything straight."

I chuckled at her response. "Wow, did you want to be with me that much?"

She put a jack to my lip as she laughed. "Shush Izuku, don't ruin the moment."

KYOKA POV

"Oh God, what was he going to say? Those three just had to show up and ruin everything."

I was currently pacing back and forth in my room trying to figure out what Izuku was going to tell me.

"He said he was thinking about something, but he never said what. Maybe he was thinking about telling the class about his quirk?"

My pacing came to a stop as I thought about that option.

"No, that wouldn't make much sense. He just said he still didn't trust many people so why would he go and just spill one of his biggest secrets. Sounds like a backwards way of figuring out who he can trust."

I fell onto my bed and began to scratch my head.

"Maybe he was thinking about sitting out of the Provisional License exam? I mean he backed out of the conversation only after telling them about the exam.

My eyes went wide as I instantaneously sat up in my bed.

"What if he was thinking about breaking up with me?"

I quickly shook my head trying to get rid of the thought.

"No, he wouldn't do that. Especially after introducing me as his girlfriend and then making me ask those embarrassing questions."

I fell back onto my bed and covered my face with a pillow as my jacks went haywire. I squeezed my pillow tight before rolling on my side to stare at our newest beach picture. I let out a sigh before rolling on my back again to stare at the ceiling.

"What exactly has been on your mind, Izuku?"

Sighing I pulled out my phone to call the one person who could always talk some sense into me when I got like this.

"Hey Kyoka, how are you doing?"

"Mom, are there ever times where dad starts to say something important then stops and acts if he wasn't going to say anything?"

"… I'm doing well thanks for asking. I'm so happy to have a daughter that doesn't only call when she needs something from me."

I stared at my phone for a moment. "Sorry mom, I'm glad everything is going well."

"That's better, now what's on your mind?"

"The other day Izuku was about to tell me something, but got interrupted before he could finish. After the interruption left he just went on as if he wasn't going to say anything."

"Did you ask him what he was going to say?"

"No mom, I didn't ask him."

"Well maybe you should ask him. Knowing him it's very possible that whoever the 'interruption' is caused him to forget what he was going to say."

"I don't think so, after everything he seemed to have something on his mind. It was almost as if he was having an internal debate."

"Kyoka, you've always had good instincts for handling these situations. Why aren't you trusting them?"

"These situations are… difficult when it comes to Izuku."

"Well what are your instincts telling you to do?"

"That's the issue mom. They're telling me to go to his room and ask him what he's been thinking about."

"Well then go-"

"But they're also telling me don't do that. He's going to shut you out again. Then he won't be able to focus on the exam and he'll fail it. He's then going to realize that I was the reason I failed and break up with me."

"Ahh to be young and in love. Such a sweet and confusing time."

"Mom, I am in the middle of a crisis."

"No you're not, your exam is in two weeks. Just wait to ask him till after. It gives him time to think it over and it takes care of your worst case scenario."

I let out a sigh. "Mom, did you have to go through these types of things with dad?"

My mom started to laugh. "Of course not, your father never says anything important."

I laughed at her comment as well. "Yeah you got a point there. Thanks mom."

"It's no problem at all. It's all part of a mothers job."

"Well I better learn then."

"Oh my, are you expecting?"

"No mom, I'm just… you know… thinking ahead for the future."

Her voice turned curious. "Have you two been talking about the future?"

"Not to that extent, no, right now we're just enjoying the time we have. Between school, hero classes, and extra training it feels like we barely have time."

"But you two are spending time together right?"

"Of course, we've been sleeping in the same bed every night since the internships… wow I cannot believe I just said that to my mother… Please don't tell dad."

My mother started to snicker. "Don't worry I won't, if I did then I'd be the one having to deal with his rants."

"Thanks mom, I don't even want to know what would happen if he told Pops."

"I'm sorry, who exactly is Pops?"

"… That's what Izuku and I call Mr. Aizawa and Ms. Fukukado when we're with them or by ourselves."

"Well if that's the case then he should start calling me mother."

"Mom, that's still a bit of a hot button for him. So please don't put any more pressure on him."

"Fine, but you have to give me something at some point."

"I think we're giving you enough, we already know that you and Mama Joke have gotten close. I can only imagine the things you have planned for the next dinner."

"I see someone has already spoiled the fun."

"Well it wasn't Mama Joke."

My mom let out a sigh. "I was hoping it would be a surprise."

"Could you please not go over the top with everything, if not at least keep dad in check. He's the one I'm most worried about."

"As you should be, he is the one that always causes trouble."

I rolled my eyes. "Have you blocked out all the things you've said to him or are you just ignoring them?"

"Kyoka, I've waited fifteen years for this, I am not going to miss out on my chance for this."

"God, you're so embarrassing."

"That's called being a parent."

I couldn't help but laugh at her. "Thanks mom, you somehow managed to calm my nerves."

"Well you are my daughter."

"Well I'm gonna go, it was good talking to you."

"Oh is that all, I was hoping to hear more about these sleeping arrangements."

"Goodbye mom."

I hung up the phone before smiling and laughing. She may not know boundaries sometimes, but she really is the coolest mom a girl could ask for.