Hope you guys like this fic! I noticed that Jirou's amps looked so similar to Present Mic's original hand speakers that he must've been involved somehow in their development. So I wrote this to explore the idea! Please let me know what you guys think, reviews make me very happy! It starts off when All Might is giving advice during the ultimate move training, just after Aizawa notices his guide to teaching book (love that scene).
"Young Jirou, listen up, I've got a few things that might help you!" All Might called out, moving on to his next student, blissfully unaware of Aizawa's outraged glare at his back.
"Huh? Sorry, did you say something?" Jirou asked, turning to meet him. The wall of concrete in front of her was littered with drill-like holes where she'd been trying to punch through with her earphone jacks.
"I've got some suggestions for your ultimate move if you're interested," he explained. "Your hearing sensitivity is already at a high level, so I think what you need to focus on most right now is a more devastating sonic attack. Your leg speakers work well for stationary targets, but you might need something with a bit more flexibility. Plus if you can apply an amplifier directly to a solid surface you'd be able to increase the size of object your quirk can demolish."
Jirou smiled excitedly. "Yeah, that's just what I was thinking! I need to be able to hold my ground against stronger opponents; the practical exam taught me that. But where would I wear an amplifier?"
All Might raised his non-slinged arm. "How about your hands? And speaking of your practical exam, I believe Present Mic used to use a similar support item, before he switched to the speaker around his neck. You could ask his advice."
"Yeah, will do. Thanks, All Might!"
"You're welcome," the former number one replied with a smile, before moving off to the next student.
"Good advice," the clone of Ectoplasm noted. "Once you've received additional support items you can finesse your ultimate move. For the time being, let's focus on building up how much sound your earphone jacks can emit."
Jirou nodded, getting back to attacking the wall, and pondering what the previous versions of Present Mic looked like.
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Later that day, Jirou tracked down the teachers' office. Hesitantly she knocked; she always felt a bit of intimidation when approaching teachers in their own domain. After a call of "Come in" from what sounded like Midnight, she slid the door open and peered in. Most of the teachers were inside, probably sorting through that day's paperwork and preparing for tomorrow.
Midnight smiled and greeted her. "Hello, Jirou. What can we do for you?" Jirou's own homeroom teacher glanced up from his computer at his student's name.
"Do you need help with something?" Aizawa asked in his usual bland tone.
"Uh, actually I was looking for Present Mic. All Might said I should talk to him about my new move."
"He'll be along in a minute, he's just finishing with a class," Midnight supplied helpfully. "Come have a seat while you wait. And tell me about this new move of yours; something thrilling I hope?"
Midnight leaned forward with fingers steepled, seemingly desperate for answers. Aizawa had gone back to work when he realised his assistance wasn't needed. Awkwardly perching on the edge a chair by the door, Jirou stuttered out an answer.
"Well, ya see, I'm trying to develop a stronger attack, and I, uh, well, I-I need an amplifier, maybe on my hands...". She trailed off awkwardly.
"Ah, yes, Mic did use to have something like that," Midnight said. "It wasn't his style in the end, but I can see with your quirk it might work a bit better."
"Make sure you drop by the Design Studio at some point," Power Loader interjected from the other side of the office. "Present Mic's input might be useful, but he's not an expert on support items."
"Do I hear my name being taken in vain?" came the dulcet tones of the aforementioned Voice hero. Jirou immediately jumped to her feet as Present Mic swung the door open, box of papers tucked one arm. He looked down when he noticed Jirou. "Hey there, little listener! You scoping out our office?"
"She's after you, Mic," Midnight said before Jirou could respond. "You remember your first pair of directional speakers, right? The ones you wore on your hands?"
"Of course!" Mic said, dumping his papers down on his desk and holding his hands out flat in front of him, in imitation of his former signature stance. "I wore them for my debut. Pretty snazzy weren't they?"
"Well Jirou here wants to get something similar. Maybe you could talk to her about how to use them?"
"Sure thing, yo!" Mic exclaimed, finger gunning at Jirou. "I can teach you all kinds of punk rock moves! You'll be almost as famous as me in no time!"
"If you could all make a bit more noise," growled Aizawa, glaring at Mic.
Jirou's head was on a swivel, looking from one teacher to the next, and wondering if she'd get a chance to talk herself at some point. Thankfully Present Mic took Aizawa's hint.
"C'mon listener," he said, ushering Jirou out of the door ahead of him. "Let's go find an empty room."
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"So you want a stronger attack and greater flexibility, that right?" Mic asked when they were settled in an empty classroom. The corridors beyond the door were quieting down now as students all flocked back to the dorms at the end of the day.
"Yeah," Jirou replied. "I want an amplifier so I can create stronger sonic blasts, something that can do damage to bigger objects, like a wall or a boulder. And All Might said that my leg speakers are only useful against targets that stand still."
Present Mic listened carefully with one leg crossed over the other. "That's a good point," he said. "Having amps on your hands will definitely allow you to adjust your aim more effectively. Plus your quirk makes you more suited to that style than mine was. I lost count of how many times I strained my neck using those old speakers." He uncrossed his legs and leant forward, elbows resting on his knees. "As for an ultimate move, have a think about how you could use a hand-mounted amplifier most effectively. Remember your practical exam."
Jirou was silent a moment, considering the question. "Well, for a lot of opponents I could just use them as I do my leg speakers," she answered eventually. "Though against your quirk it still wouldn't do very well. There's not an amp in the world that could put a dent in that noise."
When Present Mic raised an eyebrow she quickly tried to apologise, but her teacher just chuckled and brushed the comment aside. "Go on," he encouraged. "Try and think outside the box."
Jirou racked her brain some more. Outside the box? Remember the exam?
Then the lightbulb moment came.
"The ground!" Jirou blurted out. "If I hold an amp directly to the surface the vibrations would tear the ground apart. Plus that would be an attack not many people would be able to counter, and your Voice wouldn't be able to cancel it out at all."
Present Mic grinned. "You got it! So far you've just applied your quirk to the air and relatively small objects, but ultimate moves are all about taking it a step further. Get yourself down to Power Loader and have him fix you up some amps; I'll pop my head round the door at some point to see how you're getting with em."
With that, Mic got to his feet, marking the end of the tutorial, and Jirou followed suit. "Oh, and I would include some headphones in your request, too," he added. "Once you start pumping up the volume you'll want to protect your hearing. Then hopefully you won't need something as techy as these." He gestured at his own headphones.
"What's so different about them?" Jirou asked, confused. They looked just like normal headphones to her.
"They've got built in hearing aids," her teacher explained. "And they're volume sensitive, so when I use my quirk the hearing aid shuts off and the sound dampening effect increases."
Jirou stared at him, stunned. "You're deaf?" she blurted.
Present Mic grinned and gave her a thumbs up. "Yep," he said. "Partially anyway. My quirk was active from the word go, and by the time I got a handle on it the damage was already done."
Jirou winced internally. A young kid with an uncontrollable voice quirk? She instantly felt sorry for his parents.
Present Mic was holding the door open for her, so she quickly hurried through.
"Thanks for your help, sensei," Jirou said, as they walked back down the corridor.
"Not a problem, little listener!" Mic replied. "Happy to help."
With that he ducked back into the teachers' office, and Jirou made her way over to the dorms. As soon as she entered the common room, a waft of delicious smells greeted her.
"What's that?" Jirou asked her gathered classmates hungrily, stomach already rumbling.
"We've made some soup!" Hagakare answered cheerfully. "Turns out it's not as hard as it looks! Come have a bowl."
Jirou happily accepted the food, carrying it over to the table where several others were slurping up their own.
"Mm, this is good," she said around a mouthful.
"So where've you been, Kyoka?" Ashido asked from the sofas. "We all got back ages ago."
"Just talking to Present Mic about my ultimate move," Jirou replied. "I'm gonna use a support item like his."
"Ooh, what is it, what is it, what's your ultimate move?" Hagakare asked excitedly.
Jirou shook her head, smiling. "You'll have to wait and see," she teased. "It's gonna be good though." She ate some more of her soup, idly listening to background chatter, and then recalled what her teacher had said at the end.
"Hey, did any of you guys know that Present Mic's part deaf?"
Several heads lifted.
"Wait, really?" Kirishima asked.
Kaminari said, "You sure, he always seems to hear fine to me?"
"Of course I'm sure, idiot," Jirou replied. "He told me himself. Apparently his quirk was active when he was born, and it just wrecked his ears."
Midoriya's head shot up at that. "Wait, from when he was born?" He pulled a notebook out from somewhere, frantically flicking through the pages, eyes intensely focused. "I'd always assumed his quirk activated around five years old when most quirks do, which would've made Voice an emitter type quirk, but if what Jirou said is true and it was active from birth that could mean that it's actually a mutation quirk, something that allows his vocal chords to produce a much wider range of sound, but then it could still be a rare instance of an emitter quirk activating early-".
"Deku, you're going into fanboy mode again!" Ururaka said, tapping him on the arm.
"Ah, sorry!" he apologised.
Jirou just shook her head, taking another spoonful of soup. "Anyway, his headphones also work as hearing aids, and he said I should get some as well."
"He wants you to wear hearing aids?" Kaminari asked dumbly, earning him a buzz from an earphone jack.
"No, dummy, he said to wear headphones," Jirou snapped. "So my ultimate move doesn't wreck my ears."
"That's sensible," Yaoyarozu said. "I expect lots of pros have to wear protective gear when using powerful attacks, otherwise they'd hurt themselves."
"Ok, so Kyoka's given us a few hints," Ashido interjected, changing the subject. "How about the rest of you, what ideas do you have?"
The remainder of the evening dissolved into discussions of ultimate moves. Some people had a concrete idea and were already perfecting them, whereas others, like Jirou, were waiting on support items. Soon though, they'd all be ready to try out their new skills.
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"Are you ready Jirou? Show me what you can do." No matter the context, Ectoplasm always sounded so menacing. Jirou took a breath, plugging her earphone jacks into her shiny new amplifiers. This was the first time she'd tried this, and Jirou hoped she be able to pull it off. Cementoss had created a large, flat surface for her, at the edge of the gym in case things went wrong.
"Ok, here goes," said Jirou, crouching down and thrusting the mouth of each amplifier against the hard surface. "I call this move - Heartbeat Distortion!"
The result was breathtaking. There was a brief second when Jirou felt the ground in front of her jump with the force, and a rippling shimmer shot across the surface, before the concrete split into pieces with an explosive force Bakugo would be proud off. Dust erupted in a great cloud, and the remaining echoes of her heartbeat thrummed through the air of the gym.
"Woah!" Jirou exclaimed. That had been more powerful than she'd expected.
"Excellent start," Ectoplasm praised her. "Though you'll need to practice your control. In an urban environment especially, you movements must be precise in order to minimise collateral damage."
"Right," Jirou said, immediately brought back down to earth. Couldn't he let her bask in the glory a little longer?
"That was awesome Jirou!" Kirishima called down to her from were he was sparring with Bakugo.
"Nice one, Kyoka," Tsu added from her position upside down in an archway.
A few other classmates who'd been close enough to watch also shouted their praises, but they were quickly drowned out by someone else.
"Woohoo, go Jirou! That was epic, yo!"
Present Mic was practically jumping up and down in excitement over at the side of the gym, and he gave her a double thumbs up. Jirou smiled, and returned the gesture, just as Cementoss came over to fix up the landscape.
"Don't you have your own class to teach?" Cementoss asked his colleague as he passed him.
"I'm headed there right now," Present Mic answered. "But I couldn't pass up the opportunity to see one of my favourite listeners in action, yeah!"
"You're not supposed to have favourites," Cementoss muttered under his breath, but Jirou couldn't help the glow of pride that came with being singled out for praise.
"Thanks, sensei!" she called down to him. "I'll work on it till it's perfect!"
Mic flashed her another thumbs up and his signature grin, before heading back out of the gym. Jirou turned back to her platform, which Cementoss was fixing up nicely. Oh yes, this new move was definitely the next stepping stone on her road to becoming a hero.
Hope you guys enjoyed! Please leave a review letting me know what you think, they make me very happy!
