- I would, once again, like to emphasize that I'm not one to write fluff and romance and things like that. This is my first time actually trying to do so, so don't stone me to death over what you read next.
The best way to deal with loss is by making yourself too tired to think about it.
It might not be scientifically proven, but that was Izuku's mindset the day after Bakugo's funeral.
He woke up at the same time he always did, heading to Takoba before the sun rose to begin his muscle-building routine that doubled as voluntary community service. He'd been hauling trash there for a few months now, trying his best to clean up the beach that was deemed a lost cause by even the government. They said that the beach was no more than a landfill, unable to be brought back to its former glory.
They're just lazy.
Izuku had already cleared out a significant circle of trash from right in the middle of the rubbish heap, and he wasn't even pushing himself as much as possible yet. His eyes wandered to the familiar figure of a broken van, still sitting right where it had the day before. If there was one thing he would make sure to do before the UA entrance exams came around, it would be to haul that cursed thing off the beach. He didn't care what he had to do to get it off, he'd just do it.
His friends had initially looked at him like he'd lost his marbles when he told them he planned on dropping out of his martial arts classes to clean up a mountain of trash. It was a valid reaction. If he wanted to gain some muscle, it would be better to work out at a gym. However, he had a personal reason for choosing to conquer Takoba.
After looking around their apartment for a while, Izuku stumbled upon a box filled with old items that his mother and father owned. One of them was a picture of the two in a gazebo overlooking the ocean, the setting sun in the foreground casting them in a pinkish hue. When Izuku asked his mom where the picture was taken, she waved him off, saying that the beach had been turned into a wasteland of trash years ago. The sad smile on her face as she said that was more than enough for Izuku to want to restore Takoba to its former glory.
And that was why he came to the trash heap every morning and afternoon, abandoning his fighting classes to focus on cleaning the place up. He'd definitely miss his sparring partners, but that was just a sacrifice he'd have to make to see his mother happy.
His friends wanted to help him when he started out, but Izuku rejected their aid, saying this was a hurdle he had to cross on his own. However, he didn't reject Jugo's offer to let him borrow one of his dad's trucks to load up the trash and send it to the proper disposal area. Izuku didn't have a way to transport what he cleaned up in the first place, so relying on Jugo's surprisingly wealthy background for a little was an immense weight off his shoulders.
Even though his method was unorthodox, his musculature was slowly but surely coming into definition. Izuku wasn't exactly skinny before, but he definitely didn't have enough strength behind his blows to contend with some of the other people he trained with back when he still attended martial arts classes.
Heh, I bet now I'm even stronger than Ka-
Izuku's face, which was scrunched up into determination up until now, fell into a frown. He had been trying not to think about his recently departed… rival, the whole day, yet one little slip-up and all his effort was wasted. He sighed, choosing to let his knees rest for a while as he sat down on a dented microwave.
Why do I even care about Bakugo? He doesn't mean anything to me. The last time we met he broke Poppo's arm and burned down a forest.
It was a rhetorical question. Izuku knew exactly why he couldn't get Bakugo out of his mind, and he just didn't want to admit it. He didn't want to think about the fact that maybe he could've prevented Bakugo's death if he just resolved their issue back when they last met without resorting to violence.
It was a stupid thought. Logically speaking, there was no way to guarantee that anything he could've done differently back then would have any effect on the series of events that led up to Bakugo's death. Izuku knew it was a silly notion, but he just couldn't get it out of his head.
Just keep working. Tire yourself out till you can't think anymore.
Izuku got to his feet, snatching up the piece of junk he was using as a makeshift chair to bring to the rest of the trash he had gathered up. Jugo's truck wouldn't arrive till the afternoon, so he just had a pile of rubbish and scrap neatly grouped together at the bottom of the stairs that led up to the sidewalk.
"So you're the one who's been cleaning up Takoba?"
Izuku nearly dropped the microwave he was carrying in surprise at the sudden appearance of someone else, actually dropping it when he whirled around and saw a girl standing right in front of him. The metal box still managed to crunch his foot despite the fact that he was borrowing construction boots he borrowed from his neighbor, and his first interaction with this mystery girl ended up with him hopping about on one foot while waving like a madman.
"I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to startle you. Are you alright?" She took a step forward, two earphone jacks inching towards him and tentatively swaying back and forth, as if unsure of what to do. Izuku's eyes trailed the jacks, noting the length of flexible cord it came from that connected them to the girl's earlobes.
The spikes of pain in his foot finally subsided, and Izuku gratefully stopped hopping as he waved her concerns off. "Don't worry, I've taken stronger hits than that."
Now that Izuku wasn't jumping around in pain, he could finally get a better look at the stranger that presumably ventured into a pseudo-landfill just to find him. She seemed to be the same age as him, albeit a few inches shorter than him. She wore a casual outfit - something Izuku wouldn't recommend when entering a dangerous area full of rusty objects that could prick and slice you at any moment, then again he was sporting a t-shirt and track pants so that was a pretty hypocritical thought of him - a Deep Dope tank top over a black shirt, coupled with a pair of ripped jeans and black combat boots. His eyes drifted back to her jacks, trailing the cord until he got up to her face, the act of staring at a girl right in the face making his face heat up. Her dark-purple hair was cut in a chin-length asymmetrical fringe, the dark shade accentuating her onyx eyes.
"So do you stare at every new person you meet or am I one of the special few?" Her scathing remark brought Izuku out of his stupor, his blush appearing in full after being caught ogling a complete stranger.
"I-I'm so sorry. I've just been really out of it, and I wasn't expecting a pretty girl to pop up out of nowhere," Izuku stammered, face going even redder once he realized what he'd just said. The girl's face mirrored his own, her jacks winding around her head in an attempt to hide her blush.
The two teens spent the next minute in awkward silence, occasionally glancing at each other and working up a scrap of courage to speak, then instantly looking away when their eyes met. Eventually, Izuku came up with an idea that would hopefully make the awkward air dissipate.
"W-what about we start over?"
The girl turned her head just the slightest bit, enough for her to look at him out of her peripheral vision. "Start over? What do you mean?"
Izuku held his hand out, making sure to take off the safety glove on it before offering it up. "Nice to meet you, my name is Midoriya Izuku."
A beat passed by where Izuku's back started to break out into a cold sweat, gulping as he watched the girl assess his hand like she was looking for germs. After another beat, her own hand shot out to grasp his, the coolness of her skin compared to his own surprising him.
"Jiro Kyoka. No offense, but you kinda smell like garbage right now, so I'm gonna hold off on saying it's nice to meet you for a bit," Jiro joked, cracking a small grin.
The uncomfortable tension finally disappeared, and the two teens were able to make small talk with each other easily. Izuku ended up nerding out over her quirk as well, which surprised her since not a lot of people thought much of her quirk. Eventually, Jiro managed to steer the topic back to her initial reason for coming down to Takoba in the first place.
"So-" Jiro gestured wildly at the nearest pile of trash, which was pretty much everywhere around them, "-why are you cleaning this place up anyways?"
"Would you believe me if I said it's a good workout?" Izuku chuckled as he leaned against the side of his greatest enemy: the scraggly remains of a wrecked van.
Jiro gave him a once over, her eyes lingering on the portion of his arms that wasn't covered by his shirt. "Can't really fight solid proof, can I?"
"How'd you even know someone was cleaning here anyways? Not a lot of people come by a trash site voluntarily." Izuku's statement really served to put himself down, since he was also one of the people who had voluntarily chosen to visit a garbage dump everyday.
"I live nearby-" one of Jiro's ear jacks pointed over her shoulder in what Izuku assumed to be the general direction of her house, "-and I walk past here every morning. My parents bought a house here back when Takoba was still actually a proper beach, but I guess that investment didn't really pan out in the end." Her expression turned melancholy for a moment before going back to her normal half-smirk-half-unimpressed look as she continued, "Eventually I noticed that some of the trash was being removed, although I never saw you around until today."
"You walk here every morning? Seems weird that we only met now then." Something nagged at Izuku's mind, the heat of the sun bearing down from above making it hard for him to concentrate and figure out the piece of the puzzle he was missing.
Wait, bearing down from above?
Izuku turned around and craned his neck, and sure enough, the sun was already high in the sky. He had worked so hard to get his mind relaxed that he ended up working way past his usual allotted time.
"Oh wow… it's already so late." Izuku's stomach grumbled in agreement, and he hastily tried to cover up the sound by coughing. It seemed Jiro's ear jacks weren't just for show though, because judging by the way she was using her hand to hide her laughter, she had definitely heard his stomach's complaints.
Once she managed to get her laughter under control, Jiro made him an offer he couldn't refuse. "It sounds like you need a break. I know a good place close by, wanna go grab a bite?"
"Sounds great!" Izuku's stomach growled once more, and this time Jiro couldn't stop herself from doubling over in laughter.
After Izuku wiped himself down and changed into a clean pair of clothes, the two headed off to appease Izuku's stomach's caterwauling. He made sure to send a quick text to his mom to explain why he wasn't home yet, saying he was going to eat out with a friend. He had conveniently forgotten that his mother knew Izuku only had a total of three friends, and - aside from Poppo when the blonde wanted to fly around the city - none of them would ever get up early during the weekend.
"Alright, we're here!" Jiro pivoted on her heel and placed her hands on her hips, ear jacks waving around in the air excitedly. Meanwhile, Izuku was staring blankly at the building they had stopped in front of, eyes moving back and forth between their destination and the girl in front of him.
"You're joking."
"Not at all." The teasing smile on her face said otherwise, but she led him into the building nonetheless.
Granted, the service was exceptionally fast. Customers could even pick out which foods they wanted to buy themselves, a wide variety of options available on their menu. Everything was also super cheap, so that was a definite plus when it came to Izuku's near empty wallet. However, despite all the pros Izuku had just listed, there was just one glaring problem.
"This is a konbini," Izuku groaned as he picked out what drink he wanted to buy, eventually settling on an energy drink to replenish all his lost electrolytes.
The purple-haired rocker held up her hands in mock surrender, letting her jacks hold her chosen items so she could spread her palms wide. "Hey, don't blame me. All the restaurants close to the beach died out long ago since the smell of the trash heap drove away all their customers." She paused to give him an appraising look, Izuku feeling her gaze on his face. "Honestly, I have no clue how you can breathe in the middle of all that garbage everyday."
Izuku shrugged in response. "I guess I just got used to it."
The two walked up to the counter, dumping their meal onto it so they could pay and fill up their stomachs. The cashier gave them a friendly smile as she scanned their items, finishing in no time at all.
"Here's your change. I hope you two have a wonderful Valentine's Day!" Her cheerful farewell made the two teens freeze up like statues.
"W-we're not a couple!" "We aren't d-dating!"
They both broke out of their stupor at the same time, releasing a stream of stammered words as they blushed hard enough for steam to come whistling out of their ears. Izuku muttered incomprehensible jargon like a broken record, while Jiro mummified her head once more with her jacks' cord. The cashier watched in horror as chaos unfolded in front of her, silently swearing to never greet customers again for the rest of her career.
Izuku wasn't even aware of the date, completely forgetting about the fact that it was Valentine's. That probably explained why Poppo, Satsuki, and Jugo said they wouldn't be able to hang out with him. After all, Poppo and Satsuki were both in happy relationships. Jugo… was kind of the opposite, in the sense that he usually spent Valentine's Day running away from one of their classmates that was absolutely infatuated with him.
Unbeknownst to the flustered green bean, his mother hadn't forgotten what day it was at all. It was the reason why she was sent into a tizzy when she received a message from her son saying he would be late because he was going to have a bite with a friend. Inko made sure not to jump to conclusions, but she was sure that her son didn't have any friends apart from the three he always hung out with inside and outside of school. Izuku had no idea what fresh new hell awaited him on his return.
Back at the konbini, the two eventually managed to calm down. They could no longer look each other in the eyes without being reminded of what the cashier said and blushing like a tomato, but Izuku had a feeling his previous method wouldn't be very effective at fixing the awkward atmosphere this time.
They ate their snacks next to each other in silence, Izuku taking his time with his onigiri while Jiro made quirk work of her melonpan. [12]
"So why do you do it?"
Izuku swallowed the last bite of his onigiri, tilting his head in confusion as he shifted his focus to her. "Do what?"
"Cleaning the beach. I know you said you were doing it to work out, but I don't think that's the whole story." Her ear jacks snaked forward and snatched Izuku's trash right out of his hands, depositing it in a nearby trash bin without even lifting a finger.
"First of all, show off." Jiro giggled at that, and Izuku couldn't help but wish he could hear her do that more. "And, to answer your question, I'm training to get into UA."
"Oh?" Her tone sounded impressed, but one look at her face told Izuku that the topic was a sore spot for her. He decided to tread carefully to make sure he wouldn't end up stepping on any toes.
"Yeah. Getting into UA might be a pipe dream, but I'll never get anywhere unless I try, you know?" Izuku had hoped his words might sound inspiring, but his companion ended up slipping into an even gloomier mood instead.
"That's nice. I wish I could be that confident in my ability to become a hero," she sighed, the snarky girl Izuku had met earlier gone, replaced with a tired teen that sounded like she had given up on life. It reminded Izuku of himself back before his father told him he could be a hero, listless and uncaring because he had nothing left to lose and nothing he could hope to gain.
"Why not? Your quirk seems really versatile, and I think it would be really useful even in non-combative hero work," Izuku said, letting a little bit of his quirk fanboying out into the open.
Jiro's hand reached up to trace a vague shape over her heart before going back down to rest on her lap. "Being a hero isn't always about the quirk."
That line struck Izuku deep. It was the very same thing he always told people whenever they laughed at him for wanting to become a quirkless hero. However, the way he said it and the way she said it sounded like two completely different things. They both believed in the same line, but they also interpreted it differently.
Before Izuku could ask what she meant by that, he was interrupted by the sound of heavy metal blaring from a tinny speaker. Jiro gave him a shy smile as she raised the phone to her ear, and Izuku tuned out her conversation to respect her privacy.
"Looks like I need to go now," she said, sounding almost wistful.
"Oh, alright then." Izuku couldn't help but feel disappointed that their brief hangout was cut so short, but there wasn't really anything he could do about it. "I guess I'll see you around?"
Jiro grinned up at him, all traces of her previous sadness nowhere to be seen. "Definitely. Be seeing you, Greenie."
"Greenie?"
"Yeah, because… you know," Jiro raised a lock of her hair and then pointed at Izuku's own, chuckling at his deadpan expression once he figured it out.
"That's horribly uninspired."
"I'll try coming up with a better one next time then. You better come up with one for me too!" And with that, she turned around and walked out of the door, flashing a peace sign behind her in farewell.
Izuku had no idea how long he stayed in his seat after she left, staring at the window in front of him and wondering what he could do to help her gain confidence in herself.
It was a hero's job to stick their nose where it didn't belong, after all. And if Izuku could help Jiro become a hero as well at the cost of whatever their current relationship was, then he'd make that sacrifice in a heartbeat.
"I told you, Mom, I just met her today," Izuku repeated for the nth time that day as his mother badgered him for more information about the new friend he made. If he lived through the day, he vowed to never send too much information through text again.
"So you just met today, and you already went on a lunch date? My, you sure do move fast," Inko teased, enjoying the way Izuku squirmed and tried to dissuade her from retelling his story as something completely different. Of course, there was no way she would allow that, this was part of her job as a mother. It definitely wasn't just because it was fun to tease her son about his romantic interests or lack thereof.
"Mooom, please. Stop. I need to go now or else Poppo will bug me about being late again." Izuku bent down right at the doorway and pulled his shoes on, lacing them up with a speed only achievable through years of practice.
She couldn't help but get one last rib in though, "Are you really meeting with Iijima-kun or is it another date already? Slow down, Izuku! I haven't even given you the talk about the birds and the bee-"
"LA LA LA, CAN'T HEAR YOU!" Izuku sang in an attempt to drown her out as he clapped his hands over his ears.
"Alright, alright. I promise that was the last one. Make sure to stay safe out there, all right?"
Izuku nodded in response, having learned his lesson long ago about making verbal promises not to get hurt.
He left their apartment a little after one in the afternoon, speed walking his way to the corner where Poppo said he'd be waiting. Izuku wasn't expecting the blonde to contact him since it was Valentine's Day, but apparently he wanted a second opinion from a neutral party in regards to the gift he would be getting his girlfriend. Izuku hadn't met her often, but he did remember that she was kind of famous in Japan as a singer and composer.
Poppo was waiting for him under a streetlight, the blonde leaning against the metal pole as he picked out pigeon feathers from his clothes. That was usually a sign that Poppo had been using his quirk in public again, something Izuku always tried to dissuade him from, although he hadn't had any luck convincing him so far. Poppo had never been caught - after all, who would ever think a pigeon was a teenager in disguise - so he had no qualms continuing his blatant disregard for the law. Izuku didn't really have a problem with it, but he was just worried that his friend might eventually get caught.
"So, where are we going?" Izuku asked as he got closer, Poppo taking a brief break from his defeathering to give him a friendly wave.
"We're going to the music store near here! Hatsu has been eyeing this new guitar on display there for a while now, so I decided I'd get it for her as a Valentine's present," Poppo grinned, finally plucking the last feather and brushing himself off. Now feather-free, his best friend swung an arm around his neck, effectively trapping him in place as Izuku was dragged along.
"Gah! Let go!" Izuku struggled against Poppo's grip, but all his illegal flying must've given him some really strong arms, because he couldn't break out. Eventually, he sighed in defeat and let the taller boy haul him to their destination. "Why do you even need me for this anyway? You said you needed a second opinion on the gift, but it sounds like you're already dead set on it."
Poppo slowed down, scratching the top of his head with his free hand, "Well, it's Valentine's Day, man! It's always so sad seeing you all alone on a day when you should be with your significant other, you know?" Poppo stuck his tongue out at the end of his reasoning, and Izuku started to understand why Satsuki always wanted to whack some sense into the blonde. Two could play at this game though.
"Bold words coming from someone who only got into a relationship last month."
"Oh, you wound me!" Poppo cried out, miming himself swooning like an old lady in one of those foreign plays his parents used to love watching. "I'll have you know that me and Hatsu have technically been dating since the first year of middle school!"
Izuku strained his neck to twist around and face his friend, giving the blonde an exasperated look. "If you call traipsing around each other for more than two years because neither of you had enough guts to confess, then yes, you've been dating for a really long time." Poppo huffed, but didn't dispute Izuku's words. "Also, I'm not the only one who always spends Valentine's alone! What about Jugo?"
Poppo dismissed his argument with a halfhearted wave. "Eseru is always chasing after him around these times, so he never spends Valentine's alone."
"But they're not dating! Why does that count?" Izuku griped, trying to shift himself into a better position since his shoes kept getting caught in the tiny gaps on the sidewalk.
"Look, at least Jugo spends time with someone other than us on Valentine's-" the unspoken fact that the social interaction Jugo had on this particular day wasn't exactly consensual didn't need to be said, "-while all you do is stay cooped up in your room watching hero fights."
"H-hey! I don't always do that every year! Sometimes I, uh… go out to the corner and eat some katsudon…" Poppo snickered at Izuku's deflating argument, knowing the greenette's social life outside of their little circle was one of his greatest weaknesses. "And it's not like I was alone all day today…"
Spending most of his time as a pigeon must've granted Poppo a better sense of hearing as well, because he finally let go of Izuku and turned around to face him, an evil grin on his usually innocent-looking face. "What was that, Deku?"
"N-nothing!" Izuku squeaked, choosing to utilize his legs and run down the street as fast as he could to escape his friend's inquisitive nature. He was so focused on getting away from Poppo that he lost track of his surroundings, the wind getting knocked out of him as he slammed into someone and went tumbling down onto the pavement.
"Oh my god, I am so sorry…" Izuku sprang up to his feet, bowing repeatedly like a kowtowing machine, before trailing off once he actually got a good look at the person he crashed into.
"Ow! Watch where you're going you…" Emerald met onyx, their eyes meeting for the second time that day.
What are the chances we'd meet like this twice in one day?
Izuku extended a hand to help Jiro up, busying his mind by trying to calculate the probability of the coincidence to ignore their close proximity. Once she got back to her feet, Izuku gave her a quick once over to make sure she wasn't injured. Her outfit seemed almost identical to the one she was wearing earlier, the only change being the denim jacket she had on over a black tee, as well as a pair of red tennis shoes the same shade as his high tops.
"Oi, Deku! Why'd you run away? I only wanted to ask a few questions…" Poppo walked up to him from behind, panting slightly, pausing once he registered the presence of another person.
The three teens were stuck in an awkward silence, none of them sure what their next move should be. Izuku idly wondered how many times he'd have to suffocate in that particular type of atmosphere in one day. Being the brave and self-confident hero aspirant that he was, Izuku decided to break the ice.
"S-so, is it nice to meet me yet, Kyo?" Izuku asked as he turned to face Jiro, trying his best to look confident while inside he was in full panic mode. He had come up with the nickname pretty much on the spot, having not expected that he'd be meeting her again so soon.
Kyoka made a show of looking at him from top to bottom, grinning as one of her ear jacks tapped against her chin in a mock act of deep thought. "You just tackled me to the ground, so I'm tempted not to say it… but you do dress up quite nicely," she smirked as her other jack gestured at his shirt, which had the kanji for shirt written on it in bold lettering. "It's nice to finally meet you, Greenie."
Poppo elbowed him in the side with all the subtlety of a giant passing through a meadow as he leaned down to whisper in his ear, "Hey, you never told me you got a girlfriend! And she already has pet names for you too, you sly dog." Izuku's head mimicked a tomato as his face turned a bright red, elbowing his friend back to get him to shut up.
"Oh, Poppo, this is Jiro. Jiro, this is Poppo," Izuku's hands waved around wildly at his hasty introduction, the two giving each other appraising looks before settling on a handshake.
"So, Greenie, what brings you around this part of town?"
Izuku was about to answer, but Poppo beat him to the punch. "Deku over here was supposed to help me pick out a gift for my girlfriend at the instrument shop close by!"
"Yeah, what he said," Izuku nodded, before frowning once he picked up an irregularity in Poppo's explanation. "Wait, why did you say 'was supposed to help', Poppo? What are you planning this time?"
The impish smile on Poppo's face went from ear-to-ear, and there was nothing Izuku could do to stop the blonde from poofing into a pigeon and flying away, leaving him alone with Kyoka. The two remaining teens looked at each other, then back up at the bird's retreating figure, both of them unversed in the social protocol for when your friend turns into a bird and flies away in an attempt to play matchmaker.
"So… wanna hit up the arcade?" Kyoka offered, one jack twirling around her finger as she idly toyed with it.
"You're not busy?"
"Not really," she shrugged. "I was just going for a walk to get out of the house, my parents want their privacy and all that." Izuku couldn't really relate since his father was never around for Valentine's Day, but he could imagine what sappy stuff his parents might be up to if he were, and that was something he really didn't want to think about.
"Well, my friend seems to have taken flight, so I'm free for the rest of the afternoon," Izuku replied, smiling at the exaggerated groan the rocker girl made in response to his horrible pun.
"It's a plan then, Greenie," Kyoka announced, eyes glinting something mischievous as she stared off into the distance behind him. "Race you there!" she exclaimed a second after she had already ran off, Izuku sputtering obscenities as he gave chase.
They would end up playing games at the arcade long past the sun set, and if Poppo discreetly came by once to peek on them and take a picture for blackmail purposes, Izuku didn't need to know about that.
"Sup, Greenie?" Kyoka skipped down the stairs leading to the beach, taking the steps two at a time. She tossed him a cold energy drink fresh from the nearby konbini, which Izuku snatched out of the air and downed gratefully. Meeting at the beach every morning had become their daily routine, and Izuku made sure not to mention that he was on the verge of always being late to school because he stayed at the beach a little longer than he used to so they would cross paths. They had been continuously meeting for nearly a week now, but Izuku still hadn't made any progress in regards to Kyoka's hidden story in regards to heroics.
His friends' relentless teasing and questioning at school didn't help either. To be fair, it was mostly just Poppo doing all the badgering, but Izuku still made sure not to think about Kyoka when Satsuki was around just in case Poppo had somehow roped her into playing along with his antics. He was thankful that Jugo was an anti-romantic, so Poppo couldn't gain access to the Jones' stash of technological goodies that would definitely be hell for Izuku if used to spy on him.
Izuku had also taken to carrying around a slingshot and a dozen or so pebbles in his pocket every day as a threat to Poppo in case he tried following him to the beach in pigeon form. By some miracle, the blonde had yet to call him out on his bluff.
Kyoka made her way to the wrecked van - which Izuku still hadn't managed to drag off the beach - making herself at home inside it. The interior of the wrecked vehicle was decked out in whatever salvageable items Izuku was able to pick up during his cleaning. So far, all he had found was a slightly beat up beach chair and a string of fiesta lights that buzzed louder than a chainsaw whenever they were turned on. Neither of them were that big on safety protocol though, so Kyoka haphazardly turned the lights on whenever she wanted a little extra lighting.
Izuku gulped, peering at Kyoka from the corner of his vision. She seemed to be quite content relaxing against the chair's backrest, her jacks swaying along to a silent beat. Seeing her at peace just made him feel even guiltier about the fact that he wanted to dredge up whatever secret she was hiding that made her so dejected whenever the topic of heroics was brought up.
"The UA entrance exams are happening soon, I'm feeling pretty nervous about it," Izuku mentioned offhandedly, hoping he didn't seem so obvious. He was rewarded with a short hum from the van's general direction, and he took that as a queue to continue. "I honestly don't think I'll be able to make it."
"Hey, don't put yourself down, Greenie." Kyoka got to her feet and leapt out of the van, somehow ignoring the sound of creaking metal that rang out at the slight disruption. "You've been working really hard to get into UA, and it'd be stupid of them not to see that you're prime hero material. Everything you've done here is proof of that," Kyoka said as she gestured at the landscape around them, the trash heap of Takoba now whittled down to half of its original size.
"Thanks for the vote of confidence," Izuku said, flashing her a wide smile. He was completely oblivious to the effect his blinding smile had on the punk rocker, his focus shifting to how he would push the topic to Kyoka's future in heroics.
No need to overthink this, I just need to be subtle about it.
"Are you thinking of applying as well?"
Or I could just crash through the wall and ask her up front. Nice going, me.
Kyoka froze up, her expression growing pained. Just like all the other times that Izuku brought up the subject, her finger unconsciously went up to her chest, tracing a random squiggle right over where her heart lay. Izuku had a theory as to what ailed his friend, but he didn't want to jump to conclusions just yet.
"It would be a waste for me to do that. I wouldn't get accepted anyways." Kyoka gave him a sad smile, one that told Izuku she didn't want to talk about this anymore. He didn't know if he was just being stupid, brave, or foolhardy, but Izuku chose to ignore her silent plea.
"I have a hard time believing that. I know we've only known each other for a week, but from the short amount of time that I've known you, I could tell that you would make a great hero." Izuku turned around and looked Kyoka right in the face, his unwavering emerald eyes clashing against her surprised onyx orbs.
"W-what are you talking about?" she asked, genuinely sounding confused this time instead of just putting herself down.
"You're helpful."
Izuku's thoughts drifted to the day after they went to the arcade, when they ended up crossing paths again at the local park. He was only there as a favor to one of his neighbors, who wanted him to babysit her nephew for a day since the nanny she hired had come down with the flu. Kyoka, on the other hand, apparently jogged at that park everyday in the afternoon. She ended up teasing him about being a stalker, pointing out that he kept appearing everywhere she went.
Kyoka probably would've teased him relentlessly, but the sound of a mewling cat distracted them. After a teary-eyed kid came up to them and told them about how her cat got stuck in a tree - a phenomenon Izuku still couldn't understand, because how could the cats climb up but not climb down? - Kyoka let her jacks do their thing, extending upwards and wrapping up the feline before depositing it in the child's arms with hardly a fuss.
"You're determined."
They had gone to the arcade again the next day, ignoring the fact that it was a school night. Since Izuku wasn't a frequent visitor, Kyoka ended up crushing him in all the games once again. Izuku wasn't sure if she noticed it herself, but he saw the way she put her all into every single game they played, doing her best to win.
She didn't care who she went up against. A bunch of little kids, other teens their age, delinquents that looked like they were in their last year of high school…
"You're brave."
The delinquents ended up picking a fight with them because she absolutely demolished their high scores on Guitar Hero, it was an impressive feat Izuku hadn't seen since he visited the arcade with Poppo and his musically inclined girlfriend. Kyoka didn't shy away from their provocation, standing in front of the delinquents with her jacks raised in the air menacingly, not at all caring that her opponents stood a foot or more taller than her. Izuku didn't leave her hanging, taking up a fighting stance next to her.
Thankfully, their little altercation never came to blows due to the timely arrival of the manager. The delinquents got kicked out, the two teens were given some spare change on the house for their troubles, and Izuku spent the rest of the afternoon getting his ass kicked in every single game except for Hero Fighter.
"And you're so much more," Izuku finally finished, staring into Kyoka's wide eyes as she processed the pure and unadulterated praise Izuku had just thrown her way.
"Stop messing with me, Greenie," Kyoka huffed, kicking a stray can on the ground that Izuku had forgotten to pick up. "I know that you're just saying that to butter me up."
"I'm not lying! You said it yourself that I could be a hero, and if you believe someone quirkless like me can become a hero, then you can be one too!" Izuku shouted, realizing his slip of the tongue too late.
For a brief moment, there was no noise. Only the whistle of the morning breeze as it whipped by them, the cold air stinging his cheeks. In the distance, the daily rumble of engines and bustling city life reached out to them, far enough to be faint yet still close enough to be present. Izuku had just revealed his greatest secret, and some part of him hoped that would be enough for Kyoka to tell him her own.
What's the worst that could happen? She stops being friends with me because I'm quirkless?
"You really are stronger than me, Izuku."
Kyoka turned away from his gaze and started her slow trek away from the beach, only stopping once she was at the foot of the stairs. She looked back, tears streaming down her face while her mouth was twisted into something indescribable. Her eyes didn't seem to be focused on him though, and it took Izuku a second to realize she was surveying the area behind him.
"I've never actually been to a beach before, you know? And this trash heap doesn't count. It would be nice to see what it's like, even just once." She reached up to her face, wiping away her tears. "You've given me a lot to think about. I'll see you around, Greenie."
And then she was gone, leaving Izuku wondering if he did the right thing.
Kyoka didn't show up the next day.
Or the day after that.
Izuku was alone.
Finally. I'm finally done.
Izuku had a lot of time to think about Kyoka's parting words to him, her voice plaguing him in his dreams as well as every waking hour of his life. Poppo had even stopped bugging him about his love life, sensing that he was out of sorts. He didn't see Satsuki talking to Poppo or Jugo about anything while he wasn't around, so Izuku assumed the mind reader had decided to respect his privacy. He was thankful for that, because he was pretty sure he would do something he would end up regretting if he found out they were poking their noses into his business. Ironic, because that was exactly the thing Izuku did to Kyoka that landed him in this mess in the first place.
It didn't take long for him to share his troubles to his mother, who decided to give him a piece of advice that would lead him to his answer, which was hopefully the right one. She sat him down on the couch, patting him on the back like she always did whenever he was worked up about something back when he was still a kid.
"You know, they say that the reasons leading up to the problem aren't always simple, but the solution often is," Inko said as she handed her son a cup of tea. Izuku stared into the cup's contents for a while, pondering his mother's wise words.
"Do you at least think I did the right thing?"
Inko gave him a reassuring smile, "Only one person can answer that question, and it isn't me. So if you really want to know, you need to find this girl and talk to her.
Izuku had no clue where Kyoka lived - aside from the extremely vague knowledge that she lived somewhere close to Takoba Beach - so he decided to do the next best thing. He was going to clean up the beach and bring it to its former glory before the UA entrance exams, and hope that Kyoka would come of her own volition.
And that was how he ended up sitting on a beach towel in the middle of a pristine Takoba Beach the afternoon before the day of the UA entrance exams, watching the sun follow its course as time slowly ticked by. Izuku watched as the sky changed colors from a vibrant blue to a hue of yellow, orange, and red. The sun would be completely gone soon, and there was still no sign of her.
At the very least, Mom will probably be happy to see the beach like this again. And I'm sure Kyoka will pass by here again sometime in the future and see this sight herself.
Izuku got to his feet, brushing flecks of sand off his shorts as he picked up the towel and folded it neatly. It seemed like his theory was wrong, but he didn't regret pushing himself to clean up the whole of the beach in the span of a week. Sure, his muscles were extremely sore, and he would probably fall onto his face if he had to do anything highly physical during the exam tomorrow, but he'd cross that bridge once he got to it. He probably should've trained his senses as well as his muscles though, because he never heard the shuffling of feet behind him. If he had, perhaps he wouldn't have jumped up into the air like a startled cat once he turned around and came face to face with the very same girl he had been waiting for all this time.
She didn't seem to register his actions, her eyes focused on something else entirely, just like the last time they met. She was looking at the sea, her eyes filled with child-like wonder as she watched the waves crashing down on the shore, as well as the seagulls that flew overhead. Izuku had to admit that seeing such a sight for the very first time would probably leave him speechless as well, but this wasn't his first time at the beach, so he was able to get his mouth open and talk to her.
"K-Kyo?" If it was any consolation, Kyoka seemed to be just as surprised as him, making a surprisingly cute noise of bewilderment as she jumped back and raised her jacks into a fighting position. Once she realized it was just Izuku, she sheepishly lowered her defenses, hiding an embarrassed blush at her reaction.
Izuku smiled for the first time that week as his eyes met Kyoka's once more. She was wearing the exact same outfit she had on the first time they met, and Izuku wasn't sure if that was on purpose, but it contributed a certain amount of symbolism to their reunion.
"You came," Izuku said, stepping forward to close the distance between them. His hand reached out and took her own, startling her with his forwardness. He was definitely flustered as well, but he pushed his bashfulness down and reminded himself why he was doing this.
"W-what are you doing?!" Kyoka screeched, blushing up a storm as Izuku dragged her towards where he was sitting earlier, placing her in front of him so that she was facing away from the shore.
"I'm making sure that you don't leave again," Izuku said, his hand still gripping hers as tight as he could without making it uncomfortable.
"Well, I won't," Kyoka huffed, still red in the face but not making any motions to pull her hand out of his grasp. Izuku wasn't sure if that was good or not, because on one hand, her pulling her hand out would definitely hit him right where it hurt, but her keeping it there was just making his mind go haywire. Prolonged human contact with people besides Poppo and his parents wasn't something Izuku was familiar with, after all.
"Good." Izuku said that, but he still didn't let go of her hand. Although that was mostly because he was so nervous that his hand was now frozen in that position for all eternity. "So…"
Kyoka smirked at him, bringing her free hand up to her lips in a shushing motion. "I promise we'll talk about it later, so can we just enjoy the sunset right now?"
"Sure," Izuku smiled, laying the beach towel down onto the sand again as they sat down, staying there with neither of them commenting on how their hands were still intertwined. Instead, they just enjoyed the moment, finally able to breathe in the cool ocean breeze without gagging from the smell of garbage tainting it. Something about the moment just felt inexplicably right.
Izuku felt a soft pressure on his hand, and it took him a moment to realize Kyoka was squeezing it to get his attention. "Thank you, Greenie."
"Huh? For what?"
"I know that it couldn't have been easy cleaning up the rest of the beach in such a short time, and I honestly feel a little guilty since I kind of pushed you to do it last time," Kyoka mumbled under her breath, her free hand playing with the cords of her jacks like she always did when she was nervous.
"Don't be. I was planning on cleaning up the whole place anyways, and you just gave me a little push to work harder and go plus ultra, you know?" Izuku gave her hand a squeeze of his own, hoping it would convey his message that it really was no problem at all.
An invisible weight seemed to lift off her shoulders at his statement, her jacks going back to their normal stationary position. Izuku nearly had a heart attack when Kyoka's head came to rest on his shoulder, the rocker letting out a relaxed sigh as she settled in. After a brief second, she turned her head up to look at him, a half-pout-half-smirk on her face, "Don't get the wrong idea, alright? You got rid of my chair and I'm really tired, so I need something to lean on."
"The wrong idea? Whatever do you mean? I've always been well aware of my similarity to chairs," Izuku chuckled, promptly shutting up when one of Kyoka's jacks hovered menacingly in the air next to him. He had gotten stabbed in the sides by those terrifying things more times than he could count on his fingers, and he'd very much like to avoid getting stabbed by them again.
"Seriously though, thank you," Kyoka sighed, eyes already lingering on the horizon once more. In response, Izuku just squeezed her hand once, knowing she would understand the message behind it.
They ended up staying in that position until the sun set, both of them secretly eager to milk as much contentment as they could out of their unexpectedly zen-like arrangement. However, all things must come to an end, and Kyoka eventually took her head off Izuku's shoulder and got to her feet. Izuku would never say it out loud, but his hand felt the tiniest bit empty once her hand left his own.
"Thanks for today, Greenie. And you should look forward to tomorrow," she winked before turning around and walking away once more, although this time Izuku was feeling pretty good about it instead of conflicted like he was the last time this happened. Kyoka wasn't a liar, so Izuku knew she would stay true to her word.
He had no idea what would happen tomorrow, but he was definitely looking forward to it.
[12] - Onigiri, also known as omusubi or nigirimeshi, are rice balls in triangular or cylindrical shapes, wrapped up in nori. Melonpan, also known as melon bread, is a sweet bun covered in a thin layer of crispy cookie dough, with an outer appearance resembling a melon. I'm writing this stuff at three in the morning, and I very much regret it because this is making me so very hungry.
Jeez, even more foreshadowing? In any case, the entrance exams are coming up next! How is Izuku going to tackle this particular hurdle, I wonder?
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