Chapter Two: I Said, I'll Try My Very Best (REDUX)

The two teens arrive at the school at different times, Jirou waiting for Midoriya with her gift in hand, silently hoping that he wasn't going to miss school today. Midoriya had been taking extra long to arrive and Jirou was starting to get impatient. On any other day he'd be here by now.

'Strange, isn't he usually one of the firsts to arrive?' She ponders before seeing him running to school with a bag in hand. What the hell took him so long, and what was that in his hand? Regardless of that, she needed to teach him a special lesson after that slime villain incident.

"O-Oh, Jirou! I was actu-" He starts before getting slapped across the face by Jirou. Note to self: Never piss off or worry Jirou. Seriously, the moron nearly died yesterday and here he was acting as nonchalant about it as possible! He was smiling even! The gall!

"What were you doing yesterday you idiot! You could've got killed!" She starts, "You're one crazy guy, but here." Jirou hands him the new notebook, which causes him to stop and stare. He quirks a brow in confusion, was this a… A replacement?

"I-Is this for m-me?" He asks, warily. She nods, and shoves it in front of him again to it to imply that he takes it, which he does. He just stares at it, then at Jirou. She really got him a new notebook… He seriously felt like crying.

"Th-Thank you Jirou! This means a lot to me, but now I feel like my gift is a bit less worthwhile.." He says, which causes Jirou to quirk a brow. A gift? For her? What for? Why'd he get her a gift? She hardly did anything, hell he was the one that nearly died yesterday!

He handed her the bag and she looked inside of it. To say she was shocked is an understatement, he got a vinyl record of Deep Dope for her. Now it was Jirou's turn to feel like crying. She had missed out on the opportunity to get the album, but Izuku had somehow managed to get it?

Though while she thought about it, Jirou didn't know how Midoriya could've known that she liked Deep Do-

"I-I remember on the first day when you introduced yourself you mentioned liking the band, so.." He starts, pointing to the bag in her hand. Hopefully this could be a great expansion of the friendship he hoped to have with the girl. "With this I-I hope we can be friends- A-Ah, though m-maybe that's just wishful thinking-''

"Best Friends." She says, cutting him off. There was no way in hell she wouldn't be his friend after getting her something like this. "You just got me this gift, I don't even know how but this has gotta be one of the best gifts I've ever received, Midoriya. Thank you so much, really. This is… This is amazing." The two smile at each other before the bell rings.

The duo had quickly realized what time it was a tad too late, locking eyes as they realized that they needed to head to class, and so they had to rush into class, getting scolded by the teacher as they entered. Shocking everyone that Jirou was with Midoriya of all people. I mean why would she hang out with some quirkless nerd? He wasn't going to go anywhere in life, but Jirou knew that that wasn't true.

Well, it turned out that the nerd was a lot cooler than anyone would've known. A lot cooler than anyone there because he actually tried to be friends. He actually tried to get to know her, which is something not anyone else had really ever tried.

Class went as normal except Bakugou was extremely quiet during the whole thing and never once passed a glance towards Midoriya, and not even his own lackies. Everyone avoided the boy who was assaulted by a villain, but it was warranted.

That experience must have truly been traumatic, but on top of all of that… He felt as if he was saved by the one person he shouldn't have been saved by. He felt weak for once in his life. He felt insignificant.

Midoriya had continued to diligently take his notes and did his classwork up until lunch, just like he had done day after day, though there was a more positive aura about the greenette. Something about him had definitely changed. During lunch he decided to head up to the rooftop and eat lunch alone like he had done many times before, though this time it was with a smile on his face. He was feeling a lot happier.

However, on Jirou's end, she noticed him exit the classroom and decided to follow him. He wasn't going to get away that easily. And besides, she promised herself that she would become friends with the guy, and she was going to stick to that.

As Midoriya sat down and pulled out his lunch he looked up to see Kyouka Jirou standing directly in front of him. What the hell was she doing here!? No one followed him up here, so this definitely came as a shock. Did she really want to be his friend? It wasn't a lie!?

"Yo." She said doing a two-finger salute. Izuku would awkwardly wave in return, definitely shocked that she was truly going to try and hang out with the greenette. "So this is where you go during lunch? You really shouldn't try and hide things like this from your best friend y'know?"

Midoriya simply nods, visibly shaken at the fact she actually followed him up here. Seriously this was something new for the greenette, both eating lunch with someone, and actually having someone proud to say that they're his best friend. And a girl at that!

"You gonna sit there shivering all of lunch?" She asked, smirking at his nervous form. Izuku blushed in response, awkwardly stammering out an apology.

"O-O-Oh! S-Sorry, Jirou. I just wasn't expecting you to come up here, I-I mean I'm usually by myself." He replied, rubbing the back of his head. Throughout all of middle school all he did for lunch was sit up here and take notes while eating. Obviously those that saw him on the roof simply ignored him, or berated him. It was just what he was used to.

"Well I did say we were best friends didn't I? So-" She starts, plopping herself next to Midoriya, who started shaking even more at the fact a girl was actually sitting this close to him. All of these new experiences all at once was seriously coming as a culture shock to him. "Tell me about yourself, Midoriya."

The two then spent the entire lunch indulging in each other's interests. Now they both actually got a bit of a surprise about one another, Midoriya knew quite a bit about Jirou's favorite band, as well as a few more artists she enjoyed quite a bit. (This totally isn't because he looked a few up beforehand).

Midoriya also learned that Jirou enjoyed a lot of anime and games that he had grown fond of over the years as well. The two spent such a long time talking that they almost were late again, luckily Midoriya realized what time it was before class started again.

But this was something new, definitely something good for both of them. It had definitely been some time since either of them had anyone to actually call a true friend, and the two could feel that this would develop into what could only be known as a true friendship.

A friendship would definitely grow out of this, hell, maybe even more.

As class ends for the day, Bakugou walks over Midoriya and nods to the door, indicating he follows him. Midoriya gulps and nods, packing up and following Bakugou. Jirou catches sight of this and decides to follow after the two boys. There was no way in hell she was going to leave him alone with that maniac.

"U-Um, Kacchan-" Midoriya starts as they enter a hidden corner outside of the school. Bakugou swiftly grabs the collar of Midoriya's shirt and slams him into the wall, lifting him up. Izuku's eyes widen as he is lifted into the air.

"SHUT THE HELL UP, STOP THINKING YOU'RE ABOVE ME! JUST BECAUSE YOU THINK YOU SAVED ME DOESN'T MEAN YOU CAN BE A HERO DUMBASS! You are and always will be beneath me, got it, Deku!?" He shouts at Midoriya. The blond's rage was present in his crimson eyes; yesterday seemed to have festered in his mind enough to fill him with nothing but animosity for the greenette.

Midoriya realizes what this was all about, Bakugou thinks that he was looking down on him. Midoriya looked to his old friend somberly before his eyes were filled with his own anger and determination. There was no way in hell he was going to let Bakugou put him down any longer.

"I'm not looking down on you, Kacchan." He starts, yanking Bakugou's arms off his collar, stepping up to be face to face with the blond. "But I will tell you one thing. I will get into U.A, and I will become a hero! A hero greater than you! DOUBT ME ALL YOU WANT KACCHAN, BUT YOU CAN'T STOP ME!" Shouting back at Bakugou, Midoriya pushes him away. Jirou, after watching all of this unfold, sees Bakugou activate his quirk and decides to intervene.

"Oi! What do you think you're doing!? I'll get a teacher if I have to!" She calls out to the boys. Bakugou flinches and puts his hands in his pockets. He wasn't going to have his future ruined for some dumb shit like this. He knew that Deku wouldn't make it… Right?

"You're lucky your little girlfriend came to save you, Deku. I would've killed you, idiot." He shouts out at the two of them causing them to blush. He then walks off, shoving Jirou out of the way in the midst which causes Midoriya to stomp over before being stopped by Jirou.

Midoriya with the scariest glare she had ever seen on his face stares at the blonde before they shift to her, only losing their intensity when she shakes her head. Midoriya stares at her, realizing what exactly was happening before looking down at his feet.

Jirou knows that there is only so much a guy can take before snapping, but she had to remind him to calm down and think things through. It wasn't worth the burns he would receive, nor getting into trouble.

Midoriya sighs, "Gah! What was I thinking!? He might just have it out for me even more now!" He mumbles. Jirou pats his back, and gives him a smile.

"Hey, it'll be alright. We won't let him try anything, right?" She asked, trying to lift his spirits. Midoriya smiled back at her, maybe he should value their friendship a bit more. Though his smile was pained… He knew this wasn't going to be the end of Izuku and Bakugou's feud

"Right… Yeah, he won't try anything." He replied, taking a deep breath as he watched the blond slowly disappear. "He won't… He won't."

"Midoriya, you okay?" Jirou questioned, standing in front of him to get his eyes on her. "Has he… What has he done to you? What spurred all of this bullying on?"

Midoriya paused. "I… I don't know. When I was diagnosed as quirkless after he already had his own… He changed. He started to hate me, h-he." He paused once more, his hands contorting into a shaky fist. "He started to hurt me. The burns… They just wouldn't stop, but they were never big enough to truly be noticeable. I just dealt with them with home remedies…"

Jirou placed a tender hand onto the greenettes shoulder. "Midoriya… I'm so sorry." She started, before voicin her next question, "But… Why didn't you ever go to anyone? You could have told people, could you?"

"I did." He stated bluntly, leaning back against the wall of the school. "So many times I went to my mom in tears, so many times I told his own mother, so many times I told the teachers, and you know what they said?"

The pain in his voice becoming more evident as he asked his question. His voice cracked, and he sniffled idly, wiping away the tears as Jirou remained silent as an invitation for him to continue.

"They said he was just playing. They told me not to get the school involved. My own mother told me not to ruin his life by going to the police. What about…" He took a shaky breath as the tears began to subside. "What about my life..?"

"Hey, hey… They should never have brushed it off like that, Midoriya. A-And, I know we can't change the past, but I promise you for as long as I'm your friend, I won't let history repeat itself. I won't let your voice go unheard, and I won't let that pomeranian hurt you worse than he already has." Jirou voiced, taking the greenettes hand into her own. "Never again will you have to deal with that stuff alone. Even after saving him he treats you like that, obviously he was never worth it. But I'll be your best friend now. I'll be the friend you should have had from the start."

"...Y-You mean that?" Izuku questioned, his voice shaky almost as if he was going to cry again. Kyouka nodded, holding up a pinky, giggling at the silly way to keep the promise.

"I promise. I won't ever stop being your friend. No matter what." She replied, smiling as the greenette locked his pinkie around hers. "I'll try my very best to stay by your side, and I hope you'll do the same."

Midoriya smiled, releasing her hand as he wiped his eyes of their tears, and nodded. "Of course. You're the best friend I've had in years."

Jirou shook her head, "Nope! I want to hear you say it! Tell me you'll try your very best to stay as my best friend. We have to be committed to this!"

Izuku chuckled, "You have my word. I'll do my best to stay beside you as your friend."

And that's the second REDUX chapter!

Again, only a few select changes as are most of these, but all in all this does help develop Izuku's and Kyouka's friendship I feel.

Anyways, I'm keeping this short, and I hope you guys enjoy the REDUX chapters.

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