Everything had been going well for Kyouka. It was a nice day to the point where she had decided to head outside with her guitar and play for a bit, maybe even come up with some new lyrics in the process.
And then SHE showed up.
"That is the music of the Devil. Do you not wish to keep your soul pure so you may enter God's kingdom one day?"
Kyouka glared at the thorny-haired girl. "Slag off, Zealot! If you have a problem with rock music then you are free to leave!"
Dark green eyes narrowed as they looked at the purplette. "As a follower of God and a hero it is my duty to punish sinners and bring those who can back to the path of light. Are you saying that you will willingly follow Satan?"
"Oh for the love of…will you just shut the hell up with that religious crap?!" yelled out Kyouka, getting fed up with Shiozaki.
As the two girls continued to argue, they caught the attention of a certain green cinnamon roll, who decided to intervene before a physical fight broke out.
"J-Jirou-san? Shiozaki-san? Is something wrong?"
Turning to Midoriya, Kyouka saw the concerned look on his freckled face. Before she could say anything, Shiozaki cut her off.
"I am attempting to save Jirou-san's soul, Midoriya, but she refuses help and prefers Satan's company."
Izuku blinked in confusion before turning to Kyouka for an explanation.
A growl escaped the shy rocker's throat. "She keeps insulting my music!"
"It is the Devil's music," replied Shiozaki, giving Kyouka a narrowed look again. "It is evil and does nothing but corrupt pure souls."
"It does not!" snapped Kyouka, ready to jab the Zealot with her earphone jacks.
Izuku watched as the girls stared each other down. He needed to stop this and quick. Luckily, he knew exactly to end this.
Without a word, he activated Full Cowl and sped away, causing the girls to let out yelps from the gust of wind the boy created. They yelped once more when Izuku returned a few seconds later, but grew confused when they saw that he wasn't alone.
In his arms was a little girl with long white hair, big red eyes, and a single horn on the side of her forehead.
"Eri," started Izuku, gaining the little one's attention. He then pointed at Kyouka. "Do you remember who this is?"
Looking to where Izuku was pointing, red eyes widened before the child gave off a beaming smile.
"It's the pretty lady who sang at the festival!"
As the words left the child's mouth, Kyouka blushed up a storm. She was not used to compliments, especially ones geared towards her looks.
"Eri hasn't stopped talking about your concert since she saw it," stated Izuku with a laugh as Eri tried to reach for Kyouka.
Seeing what the little one wanted, Kyouka set aside her guitar and took Eri out of Izuku's arms, setting her on her lap.
"You really liked the concert, Eri?" asked the shy rocker.
Eri nodded in excitement as she looked up at Kyouka with another beaming smile. "Hai! You sing real pretty!"
"It was actually your singing that saved Eri, Jirou-san," said Izuku. When Kyouka and Shiozaki turned to Izuku, wondering what he meant, he explained further. "Your singing is what got Eri to smile for the first time in her life after having had to live under Overhaul's influence."
"You scared Chisaki away just like Deku did!" squeaked out Eri as she gave Kyouka a hug. "Thank you!"
Kyouka could feel something stirring in her chest, starting to make her feel emotional. Wrapping her arms around the child and holding her close, she vowed to always keep Eri safe.
"Y-You're welcome, Eri."
As Eri continued to happily tell Kyouka the things she liked about the concert, Shiozaki watched on in confusion. Did this child truly suffer so much in her short life that she never knew how to smile? What worried her was that apparently the Devil's music had SAVED her and that made no sense to the thorny-haired girl.
Turning to Midoriya for more answers, she flinched back from the fierce look in his eyes as he stared at her.
"Never bad mouth Jirou-san or her music again, especially if you don't know what you're talking about."
Not wanting to get on Midoriya's bad side (she was surprised that he even HAD a bad side) she nodded to his command before turning and quickly heading back to the Class 1-B dorms.
Once she was gone, Izuku turned back to Eri and Kyouka…only to find them staring at him. Blushing, he rubbed the back of his head and was about to say something before Kyouka spoke.
"Thank you, Izuku-kun."
"You're welcome, Jirou-san."
"Deku! Can the pretty lady sing for us? Please?" questioned Eri, big red eyes holding hope.
"Th-That w-would be up to J-Jirou-san, Eri," stuttered out Izuku with another blush, making glances towards Kyouka.
A blush of her own appeared on her face, but Kyouka couldn't help but roll her eyes as she patted the spot next to her. "Sit down, Izuku-kun."
Doing as he was told, Izuku sat next to Kyouka, where the purplette then transferred Eri to his lap so she could play her guitar.
As Kyouka played and sang, Eri swayed to the rhythm while Izuku hung on every word. Normally, Kyouka felt shy when she performed in front of others, a feeling that returned even after the Cultural Festival. But after what she's learned…
…These two would be the exceptions every time.
FIN
-:-
Izuku sent out Eri. It's super effective. Because if you're going to stop a religious fanatic from harassing a music enthusiast, introduced them to the cinnamon bun that was saved thanks to rock music.
And the reason why I didn't have Eri refer to Kyouka and Izuku as Mama and Papa was because I felt this story would work better if this was Kyouka and Shiozaki's first meeting with Eri, as that would make Eri's backstory have more of an impact on them.