As they watched Kyotoku walk back towards the train station, Jiro sighed and shook her head. "Sorry about him. He's just way too overprotective sometimes."

Midoriya tried to smile, but it came out more like a grimace. "It's fine. I get it. My mom can be like that sometimes."

Jiro blinked at him curiously. "She gets mad when you hang out with girls and threatens them with her quirk?"

"Ack! Um. No… I guess it's not the same after all…"

Jiro grinned, clapping him affectionately on the shoulder. "I didn't think so." She started to twirl one of her jacks around a finger. "You know… you don't have to come to dinner if you don't want to…"

Midoriya set his jaw determinedly. "No, I probably should." He turned to her, offering her a small smile and a shrug. "Training is a lot more fun with someone else, right? I'd hate for your dad to say you had to stop now."

Jiro's eyes widened in surprise, a small blush blooming on her face. Her finger twirled a couple of times, twisting her jack harder as she fidgeted. "Um… sure…" She shook her head, then shoved Midoriya on the shoulder. "Come on! We still have training to do!" She fixed her blindfold over her eyes once more, taking up a battle stance. "Come at me!"

Midoriya sighed in relief as he opened the door to his apartment. The rest of the day training with Jiro had gone well, his student was quickly picking up everything he tried to teach her when it came to the fighting style he was pulling out of his ass. His mind raced as he tried to think of any heroes or villains with multiple limbs to emulate while kicking off his shoes. There was, of course, Ojiro and Shouji from class, but he hadn't gotten to know his classmates well enough yet to understand their fighting styles, not to mention Ojiro had only one extra limb to Jiro's two, while Shoji…

"Is that you Izuku?" called his mother from the kitchen. "I'm just finishing up dinner! Why don't you go get cleaned up?"

Midoriya winced. Crap, he'd forgotten to text his mom to tell her about the… invitation from Kyotoku. He wandered into the kitchen, and facepalmed when he saw the spread of food she was working on. Inko was a fantastic cook, and loved working in the kitchen. When Midoriya had brought home his meal plan from All Might, she'd smiled widely, and immediately pulled out her bank book to adjust their food budget. She always said that she was happy to be able to help her son with his dream in this small way.

Since Midoriya had neglected to inform her that he had plans for dinner, she'd made enough food to feed six: One portion for herself, and five for her son. "I hope you're hungry!" she said smiling over a pan, shallow frying cutlets. "I made your favorite!"

Midoriya winced. "Sorry Mom! I actually have dinner plans tonight." He looked down at his shoes in shame.

Inko blinked at her son, before turning to stare at the cutlets frying on the stove. "But…"

Midoriya bowed deeply to his mother. "I know! I'm so sorry I didn't tell you before you started cooking. I've been invited to Jiro's house for dinner and…"

The chopsticks Inko was using to flip the food in the pan clattered to the floor. While Jiro may have neglected to mention her tutor's gender to her father, Midoriya had not forgotten that fact when describing his student to his mother. "You have a date?" she asked.

Midoriya winced. He knew that tone. "No! Mom, she's just a friend, and a training partner."

Inko turned away from the stove to face her son, her eyes already welling with tears. "And you're already going to meet her parents? Oh, Izuku, I'm so happy!" She grabbed him in a tight hug.

Midoriya moaned. "Moooooom."

Inko chuckled, backing off and wiping her eyes. "I know, I'm being a little silly." She gave her son a wide smile. "But I also know that it wasn't so long ago that you had a hard time just talking to girls, even in your own class. Since you've started up at UA, you've told me about no less than three girls who you can call friends! I may not like the idea of you being a hero, but I have to admit that if nothing else, this school has been great for your social skills."

Midoriya blushed, but returned his mother's smile.

Inko turned back to the stove, pulling another pair of chopsticks from a drawer and flipping the food in the pan. "Honestly, Izuku. I was a little worried that I'd never get to have grandkids at the rate you were going!"

"Ack! Mom! I… We're… I'm only fifteen!"

Inko looked back over her shoulder at her son, a cheshire grin on her face. "I'm teasing, dear."

Midoriya deflated, hunching over with a sigh. "Don't do that to me, Mom!"

"I'm your mother. It's in the job description." She adjusted the temperature on her oil. "Now, why don't you go grab a shower? I'm not about to let you meet that girl's parents smelling like a sweat sock."

Midoriya nodded. "Sure. Love you!" He disappeared down the hall towards the bathroom.

Inko shook her head, chuckling to herself. Sometimes her son just made it too easy. She removed the cutlets from the oil, placing them on a cooling rack, and laying a paper towel on top to soak up the excess oil. She frowned at the cooked food. She couldn't eat it all by herself, she had no idea how her son put away as much as he did! She blinked as an idea hit her, then smiled, while she dug in her pocket for her phone.

"I'll get it!" Jiro called out to her parents "It's gotta be Midoriya!" The doorbell had rung, and her parents were still in the kitchen preparing dinner. Well, her father was preparing dinner. Mika was still miffed at her husband's antics that Jiro had told her about, and was angrily whisper-yelling at him to be on his best behavior in front of their daughter's friend. Jiro knew her mom was trying to be quiet in her haranguement, but super hearing did run in the family after all. Plus all of her recent training meant hers was likely sharper than her mother's at this point.

She opened the door, and let out a sputter of surprise laughter. As predicted, her tutor was standing on the other side. His outfit, on the other hand, was completely unexpected. Jiro leaned against the doorframe, a smirk on her face. "Sorry, dude. I think you have the wrong place. The wedding chapel is down the road, about two kilometers thataway."

"Huh?"

She gestured to his body. "You're a little overdressed."

Midoriya looked down at himself. He was wearing a pin-stripped, burgundy colored suit, with a pale yellow shirt and a black bow tie. His usual red sneakers completed the outfit, standing out loudly. He'd even managed to pull a comb through his hair, and it sat flat on his head for the first time that Jiro had ever seen. "What's wrong with my suit?" he asked. "I wanted to make a good impression."

Jiro rolled her eyes. "You look like you came to ask them for my hand in-" her mouth snapped shut as she realized what she was about to say. She blushed hard, clearing her throat, before quickly gesturing to her own outfit: A band t-shirt and jeans. "You could have worn something like this and been fine."

Now it was Midoriya's turn to look embarrassed. "I wondered why Mom was looking at me so strangely when I left," he muttered to himself.

Jiro chuckled, reaching over and grabbing him by the lapel, dragging him into the house. As he changed into the guest slippers, she looked him over with a critical eye. "Hmm," she said, stroking her chin. "Take off the jacket and tie, and give them to me."

Midoriya blinked as he stood up from his stoop. "Uh?"

"Just hand 'em over! I'll put them in the closet for you."

Midoriya did as he was told, shrugging out of his jacket and handing it to her, before struggling with his tie. He was just starting to loosen it, when Jiro stepped in closer, grabbing at the buttons on his shirt. "You're wearing a t-shirt under this, right?"

Midoriya inhaled sharply as she stepped way inside his comfort zone and started messing with his collar. "Y-y-y-" was all he managed to get out.

Jiro barely registered his discomfort. She finished unbuttoning the shirt and opened it, before reaching around behind him and pulling out the tails from his waistband. She then mussed his hair with her hand, before stepping back to admire her handiwork. "The 't-shirt' text on your shirt is a little on the nose, but otherwise you look better. Wish you'd worn jeans, but there's nothing I can do about that." She gestured with her head to follow. "Come on, I'll show you around."

Midoriya willed his heart to slow down to something a little more manageable. What was that about? They literally just spent most of the day in close proximity to each other while sparring. She'd touched him and he'd touched her literally hundreds of times! Well… so long as you considered punches and kicks "touching…"

Shaking his head to clear out the cobwebs, Midoriya followed Jiro into her home. She led him into the kitchen, where they found her mother putting hot food into a serving dish. "Mom, this is Midoriya Izuku," she said, introducing her friend. "Midoriya, this is my mother, Mika."

Midoriya's eyes flashed with recognition. "Jiro Mika? Oh! You released that album last year! The one with all the sad songs… what was it called again?" He snapped his fingers and looked up, trying to find the title as if it were written on the ceiling.

Mika smiled widely, hiding a giggle demurely behind a hand. "The album was called 'Memories of a Teenage Idol', and it didn't do nearly as well as the albums I'd done when I was a part of DOCO." She turned to her daughter. "You didn't tell me he was a fan."

Jiro was staring at Midoriya in surprise. "I didn't know. He never said anything."

Midoriya shrugged at his friend. "My mom was a big fan of DOCO, so she bought the album right away. I never put two and two together about your names being the same when I met you."

Jiro waved her jacks around, gesturing towards her mother, from whom she'd obviously inherited her quirk. "Even with these?"

"She always had them hidden under her costume when she was in that idol group."

Mika nodded. "You are a fan! Our manager felt that my earlobes were just too… different… and so I was made to wear headphones and wrap them around my ears to make sure they stayed hidden. Nobody ever noticed!"

Midoriya shrugged. "I dunno. I think they're neat! And kinda cute."

There was silence in the room as the words hung in the air. Midoriya wished he had a quirk like that kid in class B who made words appear, just so he could swallow them back down, and hopefully the two women in the room with him wouldn't notice what had slipped out. He snuck a glance at his classmate, who had grabbed said jacks, and was tapping the ends together, her face a dark red.

Mika on the other hand, had a hand over her mouth to prevent herself from bursting out with laughter. She failed spectacularly at the attempt. "Ah ha ha ha ha!" she laughed loudly, tears streaming from her eyes. "Oh that was great!" She clapped Midoriya approvingly on the shoulder. "I like this one Kyoka! You may keep him."

Jiro managed to get herself enough under control to roll her eyes. "Mooooooom…"

Mika giggled, then turned back to the stove. "Dinner will be ready in about five minutes. Why don't you take your friend upstairs to the bathroom to get washed up?"

Jiro nodded. "Sure, Mom." She reached out and grabbed Midoriya's hand. "Come on."

Midoriya let out an "Eep!" at the contact, but allowed himself to be dragged out of the kitchen to the stairs.

They pounded up the stairs, only to slow down as Kyotoku came around the corner, and began to descend the stairs himself. He stared at Midoriya, his eyes flashing. Midoriya swore his head was starting to grow too, like it had at the beach.

"Dad, you remember Midoriya, right?" asked Jiro, a slight edge to her voice.

Smoke seemed to surround his head, and his tongue forked and snaked out. "Yes," he hissed.

Jiro grit her teeth. "Be nice," she said. Her voice was soft, but carried an unmistakable threat.

As fast as it started, Kyotoku's transformation evaporated. His face returned to its normal size and pallor. The smoke disappeared back into his head through his ears, as if being inhaled. "What?" he asked, indignantly.

Midoriya blinked, his nervousness gone, as his mind shifted into analytical mode. "So it's an illusion quirk? You can make a scary demon head, but it's just for show?"

Kyokotu raised an eyebrow at him. "How do you figure?" he asked. His mouth suddenly split into a wide grin, showing sharp fangs and a forked tongue. "Wanna put that to the tesssssst?" he asked as his face became more and more snakelike.

Jiro rolled her eyes. "Daaaad…" she warned.

Midoriya pointed up to the ceiling at the top of the stairs. "Because the smoke from your transformation didn't set off the alarm up there."

Both Jiros looked up at the smoke alarm they surely knew had been there the whole time. "Huh," said Kyotoku as his face returned to normal. "Good eye, kid," he said begrudgingly.

Jiro smirked at her father.

Kyotoku frowned at his daughter in return. He opened his mouth to retort, only to be interrupted by his wife. "Dinner's getting cold!" she called up the stairs. "Hurry up!"

"Ok, Mom!" called Jiro, before turning to her friend. "Come on!" They raced up the stairs together to the bathroom.

Kyotoku watched them go, still feeling like he'd lost a little battle. Still, he'd have more opportunities before the evening was through.

The clink of chopsticks against ceramic bowls was the only sound in the room. The tension in the air was so thick that it made Midoriya tug on his collar, as if he needed more room to breathe. The food was delicious, but he could barely taste it due to the withering gaze of the Jiro patriarch.

Mika subtly prodded her husband with an elbow, which seemed to bring him out of his seething hatred to look at her questioningly. She gave him a pointed look, which he grumbled at, before turning his attention back to Midoriya.

"So... What are your intentions with my daughter?" he asked.

Jiro rolled her eyes and sighed. "Dad…"

Mika cocked an eyebrow.

Midoriya swallowed hard. "Uhh! Just training. She asked for help, and teaching someone something is a great way to learn it yourself too, so…"

Kyotoku nodded. "Uh huh." He took another bite, chewing it slowly. "What kind of training? Like I saw at the beach?"

"Dad…" Kyoka warned. "I told you that was just an accident."

"Dear…" Mika said, using the same tone as her daughter.

Midoriya fumbled his chopsticks nervously, scrambling to catch them before they hit the floor. "Uhh! I mean… No! Nothing like that! It was hand to hand stuff!"

"Oh, I saw where your hands were…" Kyotoku retorted.

There was a thump from under the table, and Kyotoku winced. Mika glared at him, before taking over the conversation. "Is there anything special that you're working on? Some kind of super move or something?"

Jiro swallowed her food. "Not really. My quirk doesn't really lend itself to anything like that. I'll just have to rely on the martial arts he's been teaching me."

Midoriya shook his head, gesturing to her father. "What about his quirk?" he asked.

Jiro looked puzzled. "What about it?"

"Can you do the demon head thing?"

Jiro chuckled. "And here we were complimenting you on your observation skills, Greenie," she drawled. "I think it's obvious that I inherited my mother's quirk."

Midoriya shrugged. "People inherit quirks from both parents all the time. Ka-chan's quirk is a mixture of both his parents: His father can emit acid from his hands, and his mother sweats glycerine. Put them together and…"

"You get his explosive personality," Jiro said flatly. One of these days she was going to ask him about his history with the class bully. Still, he had a point. She shrugged. "I don't really know, I've never tried it."

Mika smiled at her daughter. "You know, sometimes I wonder if maybe you got a little bit of his quirk too. I swear I've seen steam come out of your ears when you get angry, or frustrated at something."

Jiro blinked in surprise. "I do?"

Mika shrugged. "Maybe I'm imagining it, but I'd swear it happens sometimes."

Midoriya's hand dove into his pocket, before coming out empty. Jiro shook her head, bemused. At least he didn't bring his notebook to the table. Still, she made a mental note to remember to discuss it with him later. It seemed like he thought it was something worth working on.

Kyotoku pointed his chopsticks at Midoriya. "What about your quirk?" he asked. "What makes you so capable of training my daughter?"

Midoriya ducked his head, embarrassed. "Um… I just have a strength quirk. It's nothing special. In fact, it's a little much for me. I can't really use it without breaking my bones."

Smoke started to billow around Kyokotu's head. "My baby girl better not be breaking any bones or so help me…"

"Dad. Rude," said Jiro, effectively defanging her father. "It's not about the quirk, it's what he does with it. Because he can't use it all the time, he has to know when and how to use it. I wanna be able to make plans like that."

Mika smiled. "Sounds to me like you want to take on a leadership role. I think that would be great for you." She turned to Kyokotu, raising an eyebrow. "Isn't that right, dear? Wouldn't it be great if Midoriya-kun here could help her with that?"

Kyokotu slouched in his chair, poking at his bowl of rice with his chopsticks. "Yeah, yeah," he muttered.

Midoriya quickly shoveled more food in his mouth as the conversation turned to other subjects. Kyokotu kept staring at him for the rest of the meal, but didn't make any further comments.

Soon it was the end of the evening, and Jiro stood by the front door as Midoriya pulled his shoes on. The rest of dinner had been pleasant, if a little awkward. Kyokotu had excused himself before dessert saying he had work he had to do in the basement studio, and hadn't surfaced for the rest of the evening. Midoriya, frankly, wasn't overly disappointed about that.

"Sorry about my parents," Jiro said, twisting a jack around a finger. The words sounded hollow to her, as if they weren't enough to make up for the embarrassment he'd experienced.

Midoriya stood, his shoes tied. "They're fine. Your mom reminds me about mine a bit. She was teasing me this afternoon about coming here too."

"Yeah, well. Mom obviously likes you. Dad though…" She turned to the closet, pulling out the jacket and tie she'd stashed in there for him. "He's never really acted like this around my other friends before…"

"Have you had any boy friends before?"

Jiro blinked in confusion, a light blush blooming across her nose. "Noooooo," she said, her voice traveling up the scale as she tried to parse out exactly what he was asking. She turned around, holding his clothes out, but she had a hard time meeting his eyes, staring at mouth instead. Just where was he going with this?

Midoriya looked at her curiously for a moment, before he realized what he said. "Ack! No! I meant…" he struggled to control his own blush. "I just meant any friends who are boys! Not like…" he trailed off there, poking his fingers together.

Jiro let out a breath, chuckling at herself a little. Her lip curled up into a teasing smirk. "No. No male friends either." She looked pensive for a second. "It can't be that though. We told him it was just training."

Midoriya just shrugged, accepting his clothes from her with a nod in thanks. But Jiro didn't let go of the clothing right away, instead she grabbed his wrist, staring hard at his hands. He looked up at her questioningly. "Uhh…"

Jiro shook her head. "Sorry, I just noticed. Your hands are kinda messed up aren't they? From your quirk I mean."

Midoriya looked down at his own hands, as if he didn't see them at the ends of his arms every day. There were a couple of angry scars along the backs from when he used his quirk at the USJ, breaking his bones, and his left pinky wouldn't extend all the way any more. "Oh! Um. Yeah." He pulled his hands away, looking slightly embarrassed. "They don't hurt or anything," he tried to assure her.

Jiro frowned. "You know, I feel a little guilty," she said as she leaned against the door frame. "You've been helping me train all this time, and I haven't held up my end of the bargain."

Midoriya just looked confused. "Bargain?"

Jiro rolled her eyes. "I promised I'd help you figure out your quirk, right? That day when we first started planning at lunch. You've taught me so much, but we haven't even talked about your quirk yet. The sports festival is in a couple of days, and you still can't use your strength without breaking your bones."

Midoriya shrugged "It's fine. According to… uhh… Yagi-sensei, the best thing I can do right now is strength training so that my quirk doesn't affect me as much. We've done plenty of that getting you ready for the festival."

Jiro folded her arms. "Has it worked?"

Midoriya looked embarrassed as he put one hand behind his head. "I've not tried to use it since we started training. I have no idea what will happen. I'll just have to wing it and see what happens at the festival!"

Jiro sighed, rolling her eyes. A jack flicked out and bopped him lightly on the forehead. "Way to go, Greenie." Midoriya let out a weak laugh as he rubbed his forehead. "Now I feel all bad that I took up your time and effort before the festival."

Midoriya shook his head. "It's fine I promise. Other than training by myself, I don't think I would have done much differently these last couple of weeks."

Jiro chewed on her bottom lip as she thought about their predicament. She felt guilty taking up all of his time and effort, even if he did train with her, not just act as a coach. Especially when she promised to help him...

Suddenly she realized what she could do to thank him. She quickly grabbed his arm to keep him from walking away, leaned in, and kissed him gently on the cheek. She pulled back, smiling slightly, a pretty blush blooming across her nose, her eyes dropping to examine her shoes. "That's for helping me with my training," she said softly.

Midoriya went completely red. His eyes stared forward, but were unseeing. His body locked up, all of his muscles completely stiff. He barely took in a breath. Something completely outside of reality had just happened to him. If an alien had come down to Earth at that moment, and landed on his foot, he would have had an easier time believing that, than the fact that a cute girl had kissed him on the cheek.

Thankfully, the years of manners being drilled into his head by his mother acted as an autopilot while the rest of his brain attempted to parse recent events. He took a step back from Jiro, and bowed deeply. "Thank you very much for having me over for dinner, Jiro-san. And please thank your parents too." He straightened, then turned on his heel and walked away robotically.

Jiro smiled at his back as he left. Tonight had turned out okay in the end. Her father would just have to get used to the idea of her liking boys…

Not that she liked him or anything… Not like that. He was a friend! And she liked hanging out with him! Training with him! He'd been such a huge help, and she should really figure out how to thank him for it…

…And he thought her ears were cute…

She shook her head, but couldn't keep the blush from crossing her face. Her father would have a conniption if he knew her heart had raced when Midoriya had let that slip. It hadn't been the first time he'd complimented her either, though he'd passed it off as being a reason for him to be nervous around her last time. She had to admit, she found him to be rather adorkable herself, with the mussed up hair and shy demeanor. The fact that his arms were massive didn't hurt either.

Now if only he could figure out how to coordinate an outfit…

"I'm home!" called Midoriya as he shuffled through the door and dropped his keys on the shelf. The entire walk home he'd alternatingly felt like he was walking on air, and like he was going to puke. On the one hand, a girl had kissed him!

On the other hand, he was pretty sure if Kyotoku ever found out that his body would never be found…

"Hi Honey!" called Inko. "We're just finishing up dinner! There's still some left if you want!"

"'We?'" he asked. His shoes removed, Midoriya walked down the hall to see who had come over. He cringed slightly when he rounded the corner, and a familiar tuft of blonde hair came into view. "Ka-chan!?"

Bakugo turned to face him, a grimace on his face. He opened his mouth to yell, when he heard Inko clear her throat. Midoriya was surprised to see him deflate a little, before he stuffed a pork croquette in his mouth, chewing harshly.

Inko smiled her son. "Well, I couldn't eat all of that food myself after all! So I thought I'd invite Katsuki over to help! Mitsuki told me she and Masaru were going to be out of town this weekend, and I figured Katsuki would like a meal he didn't have to cook himself.

Midoriya knew that despite his relationship with Bakugo, their parents were still good friends and got together often. It had been years since their son was dragged along with them, though; A fact that both boys seemed to agree with and appreciate.

Bakugo swallowed his bite, dropping his chopsticks noisily on his plate. "Thank you very much for inviting me over, Auntie," he grumbled as he stood up. "I'd offer to help you clean up, but I have some studying to do."

Inko waved him off. "Oh, that's perfectly alright Katsuki. We wouldn't want you to flunk out! Would we, Izuku?"

It would make my life a lot easier if he did, Midoriya thought, biting his tongue lest he say those words aloud. "No, of course not." He started to gather the dishes.

"Why don't you show Katsuki out?" said Inko.

Both boys looked at her as if she'd grown another head.

Inko didn't seem to notice. "Come on, I can take these back to the kitchen. You can help once our guest has gone."

Midoriya suppressed a sigh, before looking at his bully, and jerking his head towards the door. Katsuki shoved his hands in his pockets before he led the way out of the room.

Midoriya followed at a safe distance, coming up behind Bakugo as he was putting his shoes on in the geikan. He was just going to say goodbye when Bakugo seemed like he had to get something off his chest. "Look, it was just dinner. Get over it."

Midoriya was surprised he'd spoken at all. "I know," he replied.

"Auntie just knew I would be home alone tonight. I'd have probably ended up eating cup ramen if she hadn't called."

Midoriya was curious now where he was going with this. "It's my fault anyway. I had plans, and forgot to tell her before she started cooking."

Bakugo glared at him. He opened his mouth to shout, then thought better about it, and released the breath he'd built up. "Just make sure you tell her next time, Deku. She deserves better." He reached down and finished putting on his shoes, standing abruptly. "Tell your mom 'thanks' for me," he grumbled, before leaving without another word.

Midoriya watched as the door closed behind Bakugo, his mind racing. What the hell happened? He walked into the kitchen to see his mother washing dishes. "Mom, did Ka-chan seem like he was acting weird?" he asked.

Inko paused, putting a finger to her chin as she thought. "I don't think so," she said. "I called him when you were in the shower, he came over while you were gone, we had a lovely conversation, and we ate dinner."

"Ok, but you get why that's weird for him, right?"

Inko shrugged. "Katsuki has always been a good boy for me, even when I used to babysit when you two were little, remember?" She scrubbed for a minute. "He did mention that group project you two participated in a while back. The one where he had to play the villain with the bomb? I told him I thought he'd taken the role a bit too seriously, and had been too harsh on you for just a training exercise. He got kinda quiet for a while after that. But he was polite the whole evening, and we had a lovely time."

Midoriya boggled at his mother. Normally, he'd have found it embarrassing that she'd had to fight a battle for him, but she'd won! He had no idea Bakugo still had such respect for her…

…could he use this to his advantage the next time they faced off in class?

He shook his head. Best to take care of it on his own. "Scoot over Mom," he said. "I'll dry."

Inko smiled at her son. "Thank you Izuku. I'd appreciate that."

School the day before the sports festival was a somber affair. Nervous energy crackled over the heads of class A. In the case of Kaminari, quite literally as his nerves played hell with his quirk. Jiro had to keep patting her head in a vain attempt to get her hair to lay flat, as the energy crackling off of her neighbor caused it to stand up. The other students surrounding his desk fared no better.

The schedule for the day was pure class time, no hero courses. Aizawa had told them it was so that they could rest before the big day. Of course, the rumors of his sadistic streak proved true, as the extra class time was used to pack in two pop quizzes before lunch, with the promise of more in the afternoon.

Jiro just managed to answer the last question on her quiz as the bell rang for lunch, and Aizawa called for pencils down. Once the tests were passed to the front, she stretched her arms over her head, trying to loosen the muscles in her back that had been cramped from sitting at her desk all morning, hunched over her work. What she really needed was a good workout. Maybe Midoriya would be up for something light after school, if he wasn't too busy…

She blew out a breath in frustration. Ever since he came over for dinner the other night, things between her and Midoriya had been… not exactly tense, but definitely heavy. They'd still trained together, but he seemed more reluctant to touch her. When she needed her form corrected, he'd blush red as a tomato and use his fingertips to guide her. And forget about sparring. He just looked at his toes and shook his head hard when she asked. She owed her father a jack poking for scaring her friend like that.

She winced. Ok, so maybe she shared some of the blame for his nervousness, what with the kiss and all. It was just a kiss! Why was he making such a big deal out of it?

…Not that she'd ever kissed a boy before…

She shook her head to clear away the intrusive thoughts. He was being ridiculous! She should just ask him for a training session tonight, and force the issue about sparring. If she just got him to focus on hero training, he'd forget about everything else. It was how she got him to talk to her in the first place after all.

She gathered herself to stand and march over to him, when the empty suit of clothes in front of her turned around, and the sleeve waved. "Hey Kyoka!" chirped Hagakure.

Jiro deflated slightly, before smiling at her friend. The whole "empty clothing" thing was getting to be less freaky these days as the girls got to know each other better. "What's up Tooru?"

Hagakure shifted over to the desk directly in front of Jiro, sitting backwards on the seat so they could chat. "I'm inviting all the girls over to my house tonight for dinner. We gotta carbo-load before the sports festival tomorrow!"

Jiro scrunched her face up in confusion at the use of some form of weird English word she'd never heard before. "'Ka-ru-bo-ro-du?'" she asked, her mouth failing to navigate the syllables as well as her classmate.

"Uh huh!" Hagakure chirped. "It's something my dad told me about. He was an athlete when he was younger; he met my mom at the Olympics! He says you have to eat lots of complex carbohydrates a few days before a competition to build your energy reserves. It means we're going to have a buffet of noodles, rice, and deserts!"

Jiro smiled. "Sure! It sounds great."

Hagakure bounced her shoulders, in a way that her friends knew to interpret as a smile. "Awesome! I'll text you later with the address." Her sleeve waved goodbye, and she stood to go to the cafeteria.

Jiro frowned, her plans dashed before they could be implemented. Oh well. She'd kind of been neglecting her friends while she and Midoriya trained anyway. It would be good to have some face time with them.

He'd better get over himself before the festival in the morning though…

Jiro didn't know exactly what carbo-loading usually entailed, but in the Hagakure household it meant four kinds of noodle dishes–two Japanese and two Italian–rice cooked three ways, and a stack of pastries. Both of her invisible friend's parents had contributed to the meal, and it was all so delicious she wanted to try everything.

She looked up as another empty set of clothes entered the dining room, carrying a plate piled high with spaghetti and meatballs, only this set of clothing was masculine. Jiro had guessed that Hagakure inherited her quirk from one of her parents. She was slightly surprised to find out that in fact both of her parents were invisible too.

"Hey Tooru," said her father as he put the plate on the table, and cleared away an empty lasagna pan. Then he said something in English that went by too fast for Jiro to keep up.

Hagakure flapped her arms in frustration. "I already did when I got home from school, Dad," she replied in Japanese.

His sleeves moved in a placating manner. "Hey now," he said in Japanese this time. "Just wanted to make sure before your guests walked in on a disaster area."

Hagakure groaned. "Daaaaaaad!"

With a chuckle, he patted his daughter on the shoulder before leaving the room.

Hagakure sighed. "Sorry about him," she said to her guests. "He's so embarrassing sometimes."

Ashido chuckled, a goofy smile on her face. "I'm pretty sure embarrassing your kids is just part of being a dad."

Asui put a finger on her chin pensively. "You never told us your dad was American, Tooru."

"What?" replied Hagakure. "Can't you tell by looking at him?"

The other four girls stared at her without saying a word.

Hagakure took a bite of pastry. "I told you he and my mom met at the Olympics. They were the only two invisible athletes competing that year, and they hit it off right away. When Dad couldn't find work after he stopped running, he decided to come to Japan to be with Mom. He took her name so he could fit in better."

Uraraka bounced in her seat. "Wow! How romantic!"

"Not if you knew about how much sex happens at Olympic Village…" said Jiro under her breath.

Uraraka chuckled, rolling her eyes and sticking her tongue out at Jiro. She turned back to Hagakure. "So your dad taught you English then?"

Hagakure's shoulders shook. "Uh huh! He taught Mom too. And she taught us Japanese. We all pretty much go back and forth between both languages at home. It's great practice for all of us."

"Wait a minute," piped up Yaoyorozu."If you were raised speaking English all the time, why do I need to tutor you?" she asked with a mischievous glint in her eye.

Hagakure raised her arm. "You can't see it right now, but I'm giving you the finger."

The girls all dissolved into laughter, before returning to their feast. For a while, they concentrated on eating rather than conversation. Jiro finished her lasagna, and piled her plate high with spaghetti, licking her lips as she did. She was about to tuck into her noodles, when Asui spoke up. "Wow Kyoka! You must be hungry! Did you not eat anything at lunch?"

Jiro paused, a forkful halfway to her open mouth. She realized that the other girls were all looking at her with wide eyes. "What?" she asked, slightly indignant. "I thought the point was to eat a lot so we'd have energy for tomorrow." She gestured to Yaoyorozu with her fork. "I'm not eating any more than Momo."

"Well sure," continued Asui. "But she needs it to power her quirk."

Jiro blushed. Leave it to Asui to ask the blunt questions without shame. She jammed the fork in her mouth, hoping that they would drop the question if her mouth was full. No luck. Their eyes remained locked on her. She swallowed. "Look, we've all been working out a lot more than we ever did in middle school. We need more calories just to keep going! Aren't you guys all hungry all the time?"

"Well, yeah, but…" started Uraraka, before looking down at her stomach, poking it a little. Despite the feast in front of them, she'd eaten the least out of everyone. "I used to be kinda fat as a kid, and I've been happy about the weight loss. I'm down six kilos since we started school."

Ashido nodded. "Yeah! I'm not starving myself, but I've lost weight too. It's been great! Besides, you heard what Midnight-sensei told us: stay skinny to get the best ranking."

Jiro shook her head. "It's not about gaining weight, it's about gaining ability. You want to be heroes, right? To be good in a fight if you need to? You need to build muscle, which takes calories. Your brain needs calories too, in order to operate at peak performance. You know that fuzzy feeling you get after a hard workout at school? Like you feel a little drunk?"

Yaoyorozu frowned at her. "How do you know what it's like to be drunk?" she asked.

Jiro rolled her eyes. "Alright, feeling like… like when you were a kid and you'd spin around in place just to feel dizzy." There were nods of agreement around the table. "I don't feel like that at the end of the school day any more, ever since I started eating more. It lets me do extra training after school."

Ashido boggled at her. "Extra training? I'm exhausted at the end of the day most days and just want to crash in bed as it is! You want me to do more?"

Jiro shrugged. "Do you want to keep up with the boys in class? Biology says that all things being equal, they're just going to be stronger than us." She took another bite, allowing her audience to chew on what she told them, but she could tell by their expressions that they weren't quite convinced yet. "You get used to the extra workouts quickly. And the results are worth it." She rolled up a sleeve and flexed her arm, showing off a firm muscle.

The other girls looked at her in awe for a moment. Asui reached over with a finger and felt Jiro's bicep, nodding approvingly.

Yaoyorozu smiled at her. "I must say, this is all fascinating! I'm a little jealous of your advancement, and a little hurt that you didn't tell us about your workout regimen. Where did you learn to do this? The teachers haven't talked much about nutrition or extra training or anything like that. Have you spoken directly to one of them?"

Uraraka had been staring openly at Jiro's arm, her mouth open in surprise. Green flames of jealousy burned in her eyes. She blinked, surfacing from her own thoughts and coming back to the conversation. "It must have been All Might sensei!" she said. "Who else would know so much about strength training?"

"Would he though?" asked Hagakure. "Isn't his quirk just super strength? He wouldn't need to work out if it was."

Jiro winced, and hoped that she didn't blush too hard. "Um… No, not quite. I've been training with Midoriya," she replied softly.

There was no outburst of scandalous gasps, which was frankly surprising. In fact, Asui nodded, as if it was an obvious answer and turned back to her meal. Yaoyorozu mostly looked puzzled, as if she was organizing her thoughts. Ashido and Hagakure looked surprised, but had wide grins on their faces. Well, Jiro assumed that Hagakure's waving arms was the equivalent of a grin…

Uraraka looked surprised, but otherwise her face was stony. "Huh! So that's why he's been so busy lately. He didn't say." She poked at her dish with her chopsticks for a bit. "What made you think to ask him?" She asked, finally taking a bite.

Jiro let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding. "Back when we had that sleepover at Momo's house, and Tsu mentioned what Midoriya did at the USJ to get them out of danger."

"I think 'Chako was asleep when we had that conversation," said Ashido.

"Right," said Jiro. "Tsu said he was great at making a plan, and I thought that would be how I could make myself stand out a little. So I asked him to help me with that. He agreed, but said that I'd need to be able to implement those plans as well, until I can prove myself as a leader. So we started strength and combat training together."

Ashido squealed excitedly. She leaned over in her seat and jabbed her elbow into Jiro's side conspiratorially. "I bet you've been doing more than just training! Haven't you?" She grinned widely, sticking her tongue out through her teeth.

Jiro turned as red as the sauce on her plate. "N-no! It's just… just training!"

"Your mouth says no, but your face says there's something going on!" Sang Hagakure.

Jiro looked down at her plate, unable to meet the gaze of her friends. Her hands came up, and grabbed onto her jacks, twisting the cords around her fingers, and tapping the ends together. "I… I kinda… sorta… maybe… kissedhimonthecheek…" The last few words came out in a rush, barely above a mumble. Jiro prayed that the others hadn't heard, or at the very least understood, the last part of that sentence and she wouldn't have to face any further scrutiny.

She should have known better…

"Waaaaaah!" screamed Ashido and Hagakure simultaneously.

"Oh! That's so wonderful!" chimed in Yaoyorozu.

"Wow!" added Asui.

Somehow, Jiro managed to turn an even deeper shade of red than she already was. "It was just a 'thanks for helping me train' kiss!" she protested weakly.

Ashido was having none of it. Her trademark silly smile with her tongue out was out in full force. "Yeah! That's just how it starts! You spend a lot of time together, go on a couple of dates, kiss, and then…" She blinked rapidly as an idea struck her. She gasped, then grabbed Jiro by the shoulders. "You have got to tell me what it's like when you lose your virginity to him! Promise me!" She started to shake the other girl.

Jiro sputtered. She tried to deny anything of the sort was going on, but there was a disconnect somewhere between her brain and her mouth. All that came out sounded oddly like static.

Yaoyorozu gently laid a hand on Ashido's shoulder, catching her attention, before she lifted her arms away from Jiro. "I do believe you're about eight steps ahead of poor Kyoka here, Mina," she admonished.

Hagakure's shoulders shook as she nodded. "It's early, but it's still a lot further than any of the rest of us have gotten with a boy. I'd be curious to learn more!"

Jiro finally managed to get herself under control. Part of her wasn't interested in sharing anything with them. Hell, she didn't know what made her share the fact that she kissed him in the first place! The beaming faces staring at her weren't going to leave her alone after this. "Look, can I please just finish my meal? I promise to tell you all the story over desert."

Ashido and Hagakure grumbled, but nodded in agreement before tucking into their meals again. Yaoyorozu reached over and nudged her friend, smiling widely at her. Even Asui gave her a smile and a nod before going back to her noodles.

The only person who hadn't reacted with absolute happiness was Uraraka, who kept her gaze down on her own food for the rest of the meal. And while she listened to Jiro's story about Midoriya coming to dinner, she didn't contribute to the squeals of joy when she got to the good parts. Jiro made a mental note to check on her later.

Mika smiled at her daughter as she came through the door. She was sitting on the couch in the living room, taking the opportunity of a nice quiet night to read a book. "Hi Honey! How was dinner with your friends?"?"

Jiro smiled back, as she dropped her bag by the door. "It was great!" she said. "Hagakure's dad is from America, so they had a variety of dishes with noodles and such. I'm stuffed!"

"Well with how much you've been eating lately, I hope you offered to pay for the grocery bill!" She chuckled at her own joke.

Jiro rolled her eyes at her mother, but didn't comment. "Where's Dad?" she asked.

Mika pointed to the basement staircase, a red light above the door was lit up. "He had to do some work in the studio tonight. He said that he was probably going to be working late, and to tell you goodnight."

Jiro nodded. "I think I'm going to bed early tonight. Big day tomorrow!"

Mika leaned over, resting her chin on her hand. "Think you're ready?"

Jiro shrugged. "Hope so! Otherwise all this hard work Midoriya and I have gone through has been for nothing."

Mika's smile turned into a smirk. "You and Midoriya, hmmm?" she teased.

Jiro groaned. She'd just finished telling the entire story of her relationship with Midoriya for the third time to the girls in her class.

Mika giggled behind a hand. One of these days her daughter was going to roll her eyes so hard they would roll right out of her head. "Okay, I won't tease any more. Go to bed."

Jiro sighed in relief, before reaching over the back of the couch and hugging her mother. "'Night Mom," she said.

"Goodnight!"

Jiro walked up the stairs to her room, tossing her bag on her desk. A quick change into a band shirt and jammie pants, and she was ready for bed. She climbed under the covers and closed her eyes.

Only she was wired like she'd drank five cups of coffee. Tomorrow was the biggest day of her life so far, and her brain wasn't going to shut up about it anytime soon. Growing up, her family had always watched the UA Sports Festival on TV, and now she was going to participate in it?

Oh shit, she was going to be on TV…

She threw the blankets off and leapt out of bed, pacing around her small room. The nerves that hit her were far worse than anything she ever got before a performance. She took a deep breath. Normally, she'd noodle around on her bass to relax, but she knew if she started playing she'd be up all night. Playing her bass didn't require a lot of thought, which allowed her brain to wander. Great for when she was trying to focus on a specific task or trying to retain what she learned from studying. Not so great for getting her mind off of something.

She looked over at her desk, her school laptop resting in standby mode on the tabletop, and an idea struck her: While she was certain Midoriya appreciated her little thank you for training her, she still hadn't made good on her promise to help him figure out how to use his quirk. Maybe if she did a little research on bone structure…

Well, it was better than dwelling on her nervousness about the sports festival. She sat at her desk, opened her laptop, and booted it up. As she was flipping through her music collection to find the appropriate playlist, the thought occurred to her that she didn't exactly know what he'd tried to control his quirk other than "work out more". If she told him to do something he'd already thought of, then all her efforts would be for naught. She looked at her phone on its charger. She could text Midoriya and ask him, but that would ruin the surprise.

Wait a minute, there was one other person she could ask…

She grabbed her phone, then dug through her backpack until she found a business card, and typed in the number.

Jiro, K: Good evening Yagi-sensei. This is Midoriya's friend Jiro. I hope I'm not troubling you too late at night.

Yagi, T: No trouble at all, Young Jiro! What can I do for you?

Jiro, K: I was hoping you could help me with some research…

Peeks around the corner. Is anyone still here?

I am IMMENSELY sorry that this chapter took so long to write. First my muse wanted to work on a few other stories. Then it wanted to work on this. Then nothing at all. I hope I've not chased away too many of you with my long absence. Please know that I do not plan to abandon this story, and have already planned out the next few chapters through the sports festival (and yes, there will be multiple chapters to get through it all). I hope you're looking forward to that!

Twitter is a hot mess these days, and I've largely abandoned it. However, I can be found floating around on Discord on a couple of servers:

Jaded: discord(dot)gg(slash)GusE6MGP (I have my own channel on here, grab the "Time Travellers" role for notifications)

The IzuMomo Archive: discord(dot)gg(slash)jaHtsmWw (I'm a mod on this one. It's more than just a shipping channel!)

Like I said, I promise I'm still working on this fic! But my muse is fickle, and I have ideas for like four other fics that are fighting for attention too, so it might be a while before the next chapter arrives. Hopefully less than six months this time. Let me know what you think in the comments!