16
A lyric to the story
Izuku stared up at the ceiling. "...All-Might."
The training camp, Kacchan's capture, the fight between All-Might and One-for-All, all of it was over and the students had moved into the dorms of U.A. That was the first time he saw Kyouka since the hospital.
He recalled the day he saw her in the hospital bed. "I just stood there. I couldn't do anything to help her." He couldn't and was pointlessly beating himself up, because she was within his reach that day, and he was purely focused on Kacchan. Kyouka was affected by the gas and had been unconscious ever since.
He never forgot the empty pit in his chest seeing her hooked up to machines. All he was able to do was leave a note and gift next to her bedside as she recovered.
Earlier today, as they all arrived at the building they would be staying in, he glanced her way, she noticed and met his eyes. He gave a weak, but determined gesture of his head. She gave him one back, but it wasn't happy or sad, only confused acknowledgment of how she felt.
He couldn't sleep. Everyone had unpacked and held a competition for the best room. He laid on his bed, simply staring up. "We're all living together, now..." His lips shifted uncomfortably with gritted teeth. "And I haven't shared a single conversation with Kyouka since the hospital." He told himself he wanted to get to know Kyouka better, but he had been faltering.
All-Might's retirement hit him hard.
"C'mon, just go talk to him?" Mina was in the living quarters with Jirou. She felt a little close to the relationship between Izuku and Kyouka. "If it wasn't for me pestering you about snooping in his notebook, you two would have never gone out in the first place. You owe me!" She wanted to cash in.
"Yeah, I owe you all the stupid teen drama that came with it."
"Hahaha, I would love for some love affair to come my way though. If you insist, I'll take Midoriya all for myself." Mina teased.
"Hey, leave him alone."
"See, I knew you still cared!" With a victorious smirk.
Jirou crossed her arms, leaning back on the couch. "Tch, It's not that. I just know he's had it rough since All-Might retired. He's our favorite..."
Mina blinked confused, then blinked understanding. "That's the perfect reason to go talk to him! Cheer him up!" She winked with a lewd idea. "Sing him a lullaby, then take him to bed."
"Oh my god, what's wrong with you?"
Mina giggled leaving to her room for the night. "I'm just saying, Midoriya is vulnerable and needs someone. You miss him. The night is still young, just go for it and stop being such a scaredy-cat."
"I'm not a scaredy-cat." Jirou pouted with a pink tint on her cheeks. She was upset that Mina hit the mark.
Her eyes furrowed in thought. Her earphones adorably coiled up and came undone at her thoughts.
"Huh..." She didn't remember much. The last thing was the training camp and the poison gas. "What? Why am I here?" A hospital bed. She rose up and glanced around. Most of the class had brought her small gift baskets, roses, or something of the sort. She focused on the All-Might doll and note taped to it. "He left something too?"
She understood that she had worried everyone, but for him to still reach out. Her eyes wondered, unsure, before she squeezed the doll, and unshed any tears.
"I am here!" Awkward laugh. "I hope you feel better!" A prerecorded message from him.
Her eyes widened with a shine and tender gasp.
"Izuku..." She grabbed the note and read it. 'I know my voice isn't as good as All-Might's, but I just wanted you to hear it even if I'm not there. As always, your Deku.' It read. "You dummy." She held it tighter to her chest, burying her nose on it inhaling his lingering scent.
Jirou clicked her tongue in conflicting annoyance. She wanted to do something, but she didn't know what. "Fuck it, and fuck this, I'm going to bed."
IIzuku groaned, sitting up on his bed. "Maybe a glass of milk will help." He opened the door and left his dorm.
He was in the kitchen, rummaging through the fridge. He poured himself a glass. He let out a breath of refreshment after finishing the glass.
Sneak, sneak.
"Ara?" Izuku flinched, hearing a pair of noises. He flicked on the lights. "Mineta? Kaminari? N-Nani? What are you guys doing?"
"Sshh!" They both whispered. Mineta waved his hand for Midoriya to join them. "Hey Midoriya, you also thought of sneaking into the ladies' dorm. I see you're truly a degenerate like us."
"Eh? Degenerate? N-No. I just wanted some milk to help me sleep."
Kaminari chuckled. "But you can join us. I mean, come on dude, all those chicks are under the same roof as us!"
"What? Y-You guys should just go to bed. Give them their privacy." Izuku recalled how important that was to Kyouka.
"That's easy for you to say!" Mineta accused.
"Haah?"
"You think we haven't noticed? First Uraraka, then Jirou, and finally Yaoyorozu! Your choice of breast sizes are too inconsistent, and I'll be damned if you're the only one who gets to fondle the biggest in our class!"
Izuku squinted his eyes, confused, not knowing how to respond. He didn't have time as a ball was flung at him. "Eh?!" Dived, dodging Mineta's attack. "What's gotten into you?"
"I already know what kind of person you are! If we don't stop you, then you'll just stop us from peeking on the girls!"
Kaminari surprisingly (unsurprisingly) agreed with Mineta. "Oh crap, you're right dude. No hard feelings Midoriya but you're too much of a boy scout."
"Wh-What?! Of course, I won't let you guys do that! It's wrong, we were put in these dorms for our safety, not for your perversions!" Izuku gritted his teeth. Neither of them looked like they were going to back down from their mission. "Full cowling! Five percent!"
Jirou jumped up. Her earphone connected to the wall and she awoke from the thudding beat in the first floor. "When I find out who that is, oh, I'm gonna stab my quirk in their eyes." She walked out of her room.
She was blown away from the sight in front of her.
Kaminari was stuck to the ceiling from Mineta's balls. Mineta was pinned down on the ground with Izuku restraining him.
"What... the fuck?" Milk was spilled everywhere.
All of their heads snapped to her. Izuku had cringed eyes of regret. 'This isn't how I wanted to talk to Kyouka again...'
"Hey, Jirou!" Kaminari tried to play off. Jirou sweatdropped at his casual reply, given his situation.
"K-Kyouka, don't worry. Just go to bed." Izuku urged. "Y-You shouldn't get involved, trust me." He pressed down on Mineta as he continued to struggle.
Kyouka stepped back on her slipper. Izuku's voice was concerned but confident. She reevaluated the situation. She could guess at what happened. It must have been all Mineta's doing.
"It's not like I was gonna peek on her!" Mineta protested.
Jirou's eyes deadpanned, before her earphone jacks stabbed his eyes again, like in locker room. "Go, fall off a cliff." She mumbled.
"Awww! I'm blind!" Mineta ran off bumping into everything.
"And you." Jirou glared at the ceiling where Kaminari was stuck.
His smile grew uneasy. "I-I would have totally peeked on you, Jirou!"
Izuku cringed. 'Why would you say that?'
"I'm just leaving you there," Jirou grumbled with shark eyes, covering her chest.
She calmed down and finally faced Izuku. He gulped. "K-Kyouka..." What could either say to the other?
"Hey, um, Izuku, I've been working on some new music, wanna hear it?"
"S-Sure, but it's late. What if Sensei shows up. But we haven't talked for a while, I," Beginning his rambling debate.
Kyouka cracked up. "Shh." Flicking off the lights.
An earphone jerked him forward, a hand clasped his, dragging him upstairs. He gulped.
"Hey, Hey guys! I'm still stuck up here. Anybody? Mineta, you get your ass back here!"
The quiet click. An anxious heartbeat rythem. Whispers of steps leading to the bed.
They sat in silence. At first, a few lines of an awkward attempt. Pinkys touching, flinching, connecting again, another finger, and one more, till they were holding hands.
A blushing stare of the night.
"So the-that song?"
"Idiot." Quiet, and familiar, so familiar.
He held her palm gently but tightly, rubbing his thumb over her skin. "I was looking forward to it, I like your scratchy, soothing voice."
"Wh-What? Don't just say those things." A high pitch blushing vocal. Her note died down to a somber situation. "We still don't know what we are."
HIs eyebrows furrowed and unfurrowed, "Yeah, you're right. We should talk."
"Yeah, we should."
"Yeah."
"You said that already."
"Yeah."
..."Yeah."
They both released a breath of anticipation. Their hands remained intertwined.
"I'm still mad at you." She faced towards the drumset blocking the veranda. The curtains were open. Her skin had a porcelain gleam from the moon. She was wearing her deep dope shirt with some black boyshorts. Her eyes were stern, but deep down there was a liquid reflection of the night sky.
Izuku's throat dried. Her voice was not angry or happy, for the first time he heard a quivered acoustic of sadness. He reached for her lap with one hand, he hesitated, dropping it. "I know." He clenched it shut. "But you know I'm sorry too," He tried to clear the struggle of his dry throat, but it came out strained. "You do, right?"
She nodded her head. Her face lowered, turning back to him. Everything he said was true and he had subconsciously squeezed her hand after he finished. "Y-...Yeah." Her free hand reached down to the one with a dedicated grip. It softened at her touch. She brought both of their hands together. A suffocating smooth sigh, pressing her forehead on his. "It was really you..."
Izuku's eyes widened. Her voice always had the ability to go rock hard or sensually slow. "Wh... What do you mean?"
"Whenever I squeezed the All-Might doll you gave me, I... I would always think of your voice. " A broken honesty. "But at the hospital, it was you. Really you, and I never felt safer." She released her hands from his and hugged his neck.
Izuku's lips tensed, twitching worried. He shut his eyes. He wrapped his arms around her waist and upper back, holding her closer. "Sorry I wasn't there when you needed me!"
She shook her head against his, before burying her face in the crook of his neck.
"Things happen, but you still did something so... so like you, Izuku." You were supporting me.
"Kyouka, I... I," I was so scared when I saw you like that.
She nodded against his skin understanding his emotional cord. He felt a salty drop streaming down. She rose her head. Sniffle. "I'm still mad at you, but... but?"
"Y-Yeah... Yeah." Finally clearing his throat, Clasping her cheek. Her hand rose, tenderly holding his knuckles.
The moonlight. It was tranquil. Radiant.
Her loving sigh of the shoulders. His grip of safe comfort. A long embrace of flesh and heat. The constellations illuminated, dazzling fireflies. It twinkled the shine that had disappeared in their eyes.
"I missed you... I missed you so much." Whispered during the tender embrace of lips. It didn't matter who said it, they both meant it.
They both leaned back, sideways, on the bed. Her thigh crept over his hip, his hand started from her knee, sliding up. Her hands were cupping his cheeks, enjoying the kiss she had on repeat as her playlist.
They were about to start an intimate whisper in the shadows.
A loud noise interrupted. Izuku bounced up. "I was laying on something." They both stared at the protective gift. "All-Might..." He was surprised, but then a little solemn.
Kyouka's eyes grew before softening. "Hey Izuku, about All-Might. It's going to be all right. You're already kind of like him."
He gasped, facing her. "Kyouka..."
She bit her lip before going for it. She grabbed his cheeks again, scooting to him on the bed. Their noses nuzzled affectionately. He hugged her close, releasing the tension in his body. She started with a warm sigh against his cheek. His fingers curled, lightly scratching her skin.
The hollow wind ventilating through the air-conditioning vents started a gentle rhythm for her.
She whispered a lullaby. A lullaby only for his ears to hear.
