"Whoa, is that an upgraded version of the choker you wear with your hero costume?" Izuku asked, pointing at Kyouka's new and improved studded choker while the two were currently sitting at their desks.
Kyouka gave a small smirk and adjusted her choker. "Yup. I declared to myself that from this day forward, it'll be something I wear on a daily basis. I'll only take it off for special occasions and when I go to bed. How do you think it looks on me?"
Izuku's cheeks were lightly tinted red, not expecting that question as he gulped. "I-It looks really good on you. I think it's a great fashion choice, but what do I know about fashion?"
Kyouka tried to keep her cool at Izuku saying it looks good on her as she twirled around her earphone jack. "I think you have good tastes. I'm no fashionista myself, but who cares? This choker actually goes with my improved costume too. I also increased its durability so the likelihood of it getting damaged is small."
"Wow, I hope we'll be training today so I can finally see the changes you made to your costume."
"I told you that it's nothing to be excited about. I should be the excited one here since you told me that your costume is different, and almost looks like an entirely different one now. You want to give me a hint on how it looks?" Kyouka asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Hmm, I don't think so."
"Huh?"
The boy gave a playful smirk. "It's not fair for you to give you a hint when you haven't given me one."
Kyouka pouted. "You really used my own logic against me, didn't you? That's dirty of you."
"I learned from the best." Izuku replied with a smile. "But at least we'll both be satisfied once we see each other's costumes."
Honestly, Kyouka didn't care all too much if they had training today or not. Of course, she's still excited to see Izuku's costume, but right now she's just happy enough to be here with him. She knows she saw him 5 days ago when she visited him at the hospital, but it's been too long already.
Especially with her barely being able to text or call him due to how busy she was during her internship. Now they're back to seeing each other every day, going home together every day, texting every day, etc.
Just how it should be.
"Oh yeah, while we were in the hospital, I asked Iida for some advice on how to improve my kicks. Unfortunately, he couldn't help me out practically due to his injuries, but the notes I wrote down from his tips have helped me get the hang of it a little when I was training these past few days." Izuku added on, tapping his heel against the floor.
"You trained nonstop after your internship ended?"
Izuku shrugged his shoulders like it was no big deal. "What else would I do?" He then raised his hand before Kyouka could react. "But I swear it was mainly workouts and kicking the air."
"Hm, good to see you're catching on." Kyouka smirked. "But you know, you shouldn't have to explain that to me in the first place. I should expect that of you."
"You should…"
"But I don't. Maybe one day you'll do perfectly though. I have a bit of faith in you."
"A bit?" Izuku disappointedly asked before he sighed. "Anyways, can you tell me more about that robbery during your internship? You barely gave me any details other than 'three dumb villains'."
"Yeah, no prob. There were these stupid villains who were robbing a bank, and their powers consisted of shooting these condiments that dissolved anything it came into contact with." Kyouka outstretched her palm forward to mimic the villains.
"Melting condiments? Like ketchup and mustard?"
"And relish. Funny thing is that the dude with the mustard quirk couldn't melt stuff. It was just plain old mustard. Edible and everything."
"How did it taste?" Izuku asked with zero hesitation, looking like he really needed to know.
"I didn't taste it! I don't want to taste something that comes out of someone's body!" Kyouka stated, sticking her tongue out in disgust, hearing a snicker nearby, but choosing to ignore it.
"You have a point, but you can't tell me you're not a little curious about how a condiment would taste from someone's body."
"I'm not. Not at all. Crust tasted it and said it wasn't bad even though he prefers ketchup." Kyouka said before pointing at Izuku. "But I'm not asking him about it, okay? I have limits. It would also be a really weird thing to call the agency for."
Izuku sighed in disappointment. "Okay, I won't push it. But did anything else happen during your internship?"
Kyouka shrugged her shoulders. "Meh, it was mainly the same old same old with patrols and everything. A few petty crimes and helping people out. Was a solid experience. I met up with this old guy in a retirement home and had a surprisingly lengthy talk. But… other than visiting you at the hospital, that's all I did."
"Still sounds like it was a great internship. At least yours wasn't cut short like mine." Izuku said, rubbing the back of his neck. "Besides, the first 3 days were pretty helpful and I got to develop a few new techniques, so I can't complain. It is my fault that it got cut so short."
Kyouka reached over and put her hand on his shoulder. "Next time, you'll be able to have the full experience, and maybe we'll actually be together this time."
"If Gran Torino ever offers for me to intern under him again after his teaching license is no longer suspended, I'll ask if he can extend an offer to you as well. That is, if you want to."
"Yeah, sounds like a good time. I can be there to make sure he doesn't rough you up too much."
"I think that's easier said than done with how fast he is and how hard he kicks. But maybe if we team up, we can subdue him."
Kyouka wrapped her earphone jack around her finger as she nodded. "We'll have him just like that. Or I'll be dragged around like a rag doll depending on how strong he is."
Izuku scratched his head. "Maybe I should hold him down too. I hope he's not able to drag the both of us around. I'm starting to get a headache just thinking about it…"
"Oh god, don't remind me of headaches right now." Kyouka slowly shook her head.
"How come?"
"Ugh… I got this killer headache out of the blue during my internship, and let me tell you, it felt like absolute hell. It's like I had one drill in one ear and one drill in another ear. And they were meeting in the middle…"
"That bad? Are you feeling okay now, and have you gotten it looked at?"
Kyouka nodded and started to explain to him.
Her head was feeling completely fine now, and she even went to the nurse's office before class started, but Recovery Girl informed her that there was nothing wrong with her body.
Kyouka still asked why she had such a painful headache out of the blue, but the Pro Hero didn't have an answer for her. She insisted that Kyouka should stay on alert about any other body abnormalities for the next week.
Overall, she seemed to be in perfect health right now, so she should stop worrying about some stupid headache so much.
She was about to be done explaining everything to Izuku before she was interrupted by Kirishima and Sero exploding into laughter out of nowhere. Kyouka sighed and started to turn her head towards the laughter. 'What's so funny to those tw-'
A wide, devilish grin spread across Kyouka's face as she saw something that she'll treasure for a long while.
Bakugo's hair was properly combed over, looking like he's some pompous son of a rich family. And what's better is that it looked like he absolutely hated it, with all of his seething.
Kyouka pulled out her phone and took a picture of Bakugo with the flash on without hesitation. She's never had a picture of Bakugo on her phone before, and she never planned to. But seeing how miserable he is with this haircut, there's no way she'll let him forget this moment for as long as he lives.
Bakugo took notice of the flash and snapped his head towards Kyouka, his hair popping back to its normal spiky state. "You delete that right now?!"
Kyouka kept her shit-eating grin as she shook her phone. "Nah. You look horrible 24/7 anyways, so this is a once in a lifetime opportunity to get a semi-decent picture of you."
"If you want a fabulous picture, look no further than moi!" Aoyama announced, making all kinds of flashy poses, but not a single person looked his way.
"Bastard, I'll blow that phone to smithereens!" Bakugo yelled before starting to run after Kyouka.
Kyouka proceeded to run away from Bakugo, her grin not wavering one bit as she began sending the picture to all of her contacts, her parents included.
Izuku sweatdropped, watching the two of them run circles around the classroom before feeling his phone vibrate and looking at it. Bakugo's seething face along with that ridiculous haircut was on his phone screen right now and Izuku had to put his hand over his mouth to contain his laughter. 'I might have to save this as his contact photo from now on… Out of respect for Kyouka going through the trouble of taking this of course!'
"Alright, guys, place your bets now. Will Mr. Aizawa come in to stop them before someone gets hurt or not?" Kaminari asked before placing a few bills on his desk. "I say someone's gonna get hurt."
"Mr. Aizawa's gonna have them both wrapped up in his scarf." Sato put down a few bills next to Kaminari's.
"I gotta agree. Sorry, Kaminari." Mineta joined in with Sato.
Koda nervously slipped in a single bill on Sato's pile.
"Is it wrong for us to bet like this?" Ojiro looked at Toru.
"Who cares?! This is fun!" The invisible girl exclaimed, putting down a couple of bills, not paying attention to what pile.
"When Bakugo's involved, it's a literal impossibility for no one to get hurt." Sero smirked, adding to Kaminari's pile.
Ochako slammed down two whole coins, rattling the table. "Put me down for whoever wins!"
"That's not how it works."
"Oh…" Ochako sheepishly tapped her fingertips together. "Aizawa coming in then…"
Mina ran in and added onto Ochako's coins. "Me too!"
Ochako crossed her fingers, staring intensely at Kyouka and Bakugo. 'I'm so sorry for betting on you two getting in trouble…'
A few more students continued to add money onto their respective piles while Iida watched, a calm expression on his face.
Todoroki was standing by Iida and watched everyone being all grouped up. "Should I add some money to the pile?"
Iida looked up at Todoroki. "I don't think that's such a good idea. Personally, I'm not fond of gambling." He let out a small chuckle. "Usually, I would step in by now and stop all this running and gambling, but right now I'm just happy to see all of my friends and classmates having fun after everything that just happened. I'll look the other way this time. Incidentally, Midoriya is Class President, and it should be his duty to put a stop to all of this if he so chooses."
As if on cue, Izuku stood up from his desk and cleared his throat. "You guys…"
The bettors all faced him, looking a little worried now before Kaminari spoke up, nervously smiling. "Hey, prez... Do you need anything…?"
"Can I… bet too?" The Class President reluctantly asked, everyone looking at him with shocked faces and Iida almost falling out of his seat.
'Perhaps, I stand corrected. I might have to give Midoriya a lecture to be stricter with our classmates or leave that to Yaoyorozu…'
Kaminari recomposed himself, nodding. "Sure, man. It's open to everybody."
Izuku stepped forward and pulled out a few bills before closing his eyes. 'You would bet too, right, Kyouka? I should blame you for being a bad influence on me, but I can't. Man, I'm already feeling super guilty about this… So that's why I'll bet randomly so I'll have no bias.' He put his money down on Sato's pile and opened his eyes. 'Oh… Now I don't want her to end up getting detention. Maybe I should just put a stop to all of this…'
Out of nowhere, Momo opened the door to the classroom, sighing. "Sorry I'm late, everyone. Traffic was dreadful around my area…" She stepped into the room and heard footsteps running towards her before she started to turn towards the sound. "Who is runni-"
*SLAM*
Kyouka and Momo's foreheads slammed right into each other, with Kyouka's phone flying out of her hand before Bakugo jumped up and caught it.
"Dammit! Password protected! This phone's useless to me!"
Bakugo threw her phone to the side before Izuku caught it and ran toward the two girls. "K-Kyouka! Yaoyorozu! Are you two okay?!"
They were both lying on the floor, large bumps on their foreheads with stars spinning around their heads.
"Dang it!" Ochako cursed out, realizing she had lost her two coins before shaking her head. "Wait, I shouldn't worry about that right now!"
Ochako ran towards the two knocked down girls to check on them, with Mina, Toru, and Tsuyu doing the same.
Mineta began to make his way to them before being picked up by the shirt collar and looked behind himself to see Sero. "What?! I just want to check on Yaoyorozu."
"I know better you little freak. Midoriya and the other girls got this." Sero said before looking at the two piles of money. "Time for me to collect my earnings. I'll make sure to grab one of your bills, Mineta."
"That's just being petty!"
Kaminari collected all the bills and two coins before holding them up. "For those who betted on someone getting hurt, gather around!" He felt a hand on his shoulder before turning to see Izuku standing right next to him. "S-Sorry you lost, prez, but rules are rules…"
Izuku sighed and patted Kaminari's shoulder. "I'm sorry, but I'll have to put my foot down here. With Kyouka and Yaoyorozu being knocked down like that, I don't think it's right for anyone to profit off of that. I won't force anything on you, but wouldn't you agree with me?"
"But-" Kaminari cut himself off, starting to feel guilty as he groaned. "Yeah, you got a point there… Okay everyone, come collect the money you betted."
No one seemed to have any arguments, especially those who lost the bet as all the bettors collected their money back. Ochako would've kissed her two coins if they weren't so dirty.
Iida smiled widely, seeing how Izuku was handling the situation. 'Impressive, Midoriya. Maybe you don't need a lecture after all.'
Aizawa entered the room and sighed at the sight before him. "What happened here? Do I even want the details?"
Izuku approached Aizawa, clearing his throat. "U-Um, Kyouka was in a rush to go to the restroom as Yaoyorozu entered the classroom, causing the two of them to collide into each other."
"Hm. I guess that checks out, with what I've been hearing about Jirou's tendencies to use the restroom a lot." Aizawa rubbed his eyes, letting out a small yawn. "Alright, I'll have these two taken to see the old lady. They should be back before the first period."
Ochako tapped her palm with her fist, smiling. 'Good lie, Dekiru! Good thing Jirou has an overactive bladder to cover it up!'
Meanwhile, Kyouka was internally screaming, still being fairly conscious and now knowing that Aizawa is aware of that horrible rumor about her. If she ever finds out who's spreading the rumor, she'll make sure they'll never say a word in their life again.
"Dekiru, say 'Ahh.'" Ochako requested as she held a pair of chopsticks with rice in front of Izuku's mouth.
The boy's face reddened a little as he slightly backed his head away. "U-Uraraka, I can still eat just fine, you know. Both of my arms fully healed a week ago and the small injury I got during my internship healed days ago. There's no need for this."
Ochako giggled, still keeping her chopsticks in front of Izuku's mouth and bringing them closer. "I know, but I feel bad for not doing this when you were injured, so think of this as my way to make it up to you. Please let me do it. Just once?"
Izuku sighed, deciding it'd be easier to comply and satisfy his friend rather than trying to argue as he opened his mouth. Both she and Kyouka are very stubborn, but in different ways. Ochako is a bit more indirect with her methods while Kyouka can be very direct.
If those two ever got into an argument, it'd be interesting to see who would back down first. He doesn't want to see his two friends argue at all, but he can't deny that the curiosity is there.
Ochako fed him the rice before grabbing some more and holding up her chopsticks. "Now for the next round!"
Izuku almost choked on the rice before forcing himself to swallow it. "Huh?! Next roun-Mmph!"
He didn't even get time to finish his sentence as Ochako stuffed more rice in his mouth. "Uh-huh! We're finishing this entire bowl!"
Izuku sweatdropped, starting to accept his fate as he was fed even more rice and let himself relax. 'It's a nice gesture, so I guess I can't be against this… But when she said just once, I thought she meant just one serving. Not one bowl. You know, I wonder where Kyouka is. I haven't seen her since we entered the cafeteria. Same thing with Yaoyorozu.'
Meanwhile, Kyouka and Momo were barely getting their lunch with the shorter girl impatiently tapping her foot against the floor. 'How come Mr. Aizawa had to make Yaoyorozu and I stay a few extra minutes after class…? So stupid. But, it might've been worse if he knew that I was running around the class with Bakugo chasing me. That could've landed me in detention. I'm glad Yaoyorozu was understanding about it at least even though she wasn't at fault.'
The two girls had bandages on their foreheads, covering up a red mark that got left behind from their collision. At least the bump was entirely gone now.
Luckily, that collision didn't somehow trigger another bad headache for Kyouka, and the pain wasn't nearly as bad.
Kyouka picked up her lunch tray and made her way to the table with Momo right behind her. However, the already slightly annoyed girl stopped dead in her tracks as she witnessed a sight that made her blood boil in an instant.
Momo bumped into Kyouka's back, and almost dropped her lunch before standing at her friend's side as she raised an eyebrow. "Jirou, what's the matter? Why did you stop?"
"Yaoyorozu. You're my friend, you know that?" Kyouka asked as she gave the sweetest smile while she impulsively gripped the tray as hard as she could, severely denting it.
"Yes, I know…"
"Okay, good. Good to know. So… are you willing to back me up or hold me back if I try anything a little extreme? Don't worry, I won't be in any danger."
Momo widened her eyes, seeing Kyouka staring directly at Ochako feeding Izuku and then noticing her dented tray. 'That tray is made out of metal! With that strength, she could break someone's windpipe with ease. I hear that jealousy can lead lovestruck girls into undesirable actions, so I must do what I can to make sure Jirou doesn't do something she'll regret.'
She smiled and stood in front of Kyouka to block her view. "Jirou, whatever you're thinking, I beg of you to not act on your thoughts. Let us simply sit down and enjoy our lunch. There's no harm in that, right?"
Kyouka looked up at Momo and pursed her lips, not looking very pleased with her intervention before sighing. "Okay… No action it is. But this better stop immediately. This is too much funny business for my liking."
Momo sighed in relief and started to make her way to the table. "You sound a little like Iida right there. Seems that when it comes to Midoriya, you get a little authoritative."
"Shut up…" Kyouka grumbled, looking to the side as she followed Momo. "Sometimes authority is needed to keep PDA to a minimum at this school. As Vice President, you should agree with me. Actually, you should talk to Izuku about that, seeing as he's Class President."
Momo playfully rolled her eyes, not believing in Kyouka's words for a second and choosing to ignore them as she sat down next to Iida. 'I hope she plays nice.'
Kyouka stood in between Izuku and Ochako, the other girl continuing to feed her hero without a care in the world. 'Oh, it would be so easy to dump my lunch all over her. I should've pretended to trip while I was walking over here. Too late now. Dammit, I can't let her continue this any longer. By the time they finish, he might fall in love with her. A dirty trick, Uraraka... I can't directly stop them. or I'll risk looking like a total jackass. Only one course of action left for me…' She calmly took her seat next to Izuku and quickly scanned her general area to make sure no one was looking directly at her before looking down at her chicken curry. 'I'm sorry, little one, but you have to be sacrificed.'
Kyouka put her finger on the edge of the plate facing her before cocking an eyebrow and whispered to herself. "Wait, I'm not a complete psychopath. This is gonna burn the hell out of me." The girl instead put her finger on the other side of the bowl before swiftly pulling her finger down, spilling the curry all over the tray and table. "God dammit!"
Izuku was about to take another bite of the rice, his mind now very numb due to the repetitiveness of his feeding, only being a quarter of the way through all the rice until he heard Kyouka's scream and turned around in an instant. "Kyouka, what's the matter?! And when'd you get here?!"
Kyouka had a displeased look on her face before pointing at the spilled food. "I just got here and accidentally spilled my curry all over the table, so that sucks."
"You have to be more careful. I'm supposed to be the clumsy one here." Izuku sighed, smiling at his best friend before picking up a piece of pork with his chopsticks. "I don't mind sharing some of my pork with you if you're feeling hungry."
"Really? That's okay?" Kyouka asked before getting a nod from her hero. "Then I'll take you up on your offer."
Izuku started to place pieces of pork on her tray, leaving himself less than half of what he had before. "Do you want any more?"
Kyouka shook her head, waving her hands in front of her face. "No, no, no, no. You gave me more than enough. I'll grab something from the vending machine later if I'm still feeling hungry."
'God, I almost burned my legs. What was I thinking? Well, at least I got Uraraka to stop feeding Izuku and got him to share some of his food with me. I do feel pretty bad for that last part though...' She then looked at her tea and internally facepalmed. 'Stupid! I should've spilled my tea instead! Izuku would've kept his pork pieces and I would've still had my curry!'
"Hey, what happened to your tray? The sides are dented. And why is it metal too? We usually get plastic trays like these." Ochako pointed out, looking at hers and everyone else's trays.
Kyouka quickly thought of an excuse as she placed her hands on the dents. "Um, I guess I got so mad at spilling my food that I smashed my tray without realizing it. To why it's metal, I… have no clue. Why is my tray metal?"
"Whoa, you must be pretty strong! That's awesome, Jirou!" Ochako complimented with a smile before talking to herself. "Can I dent metal by smashing it?" She looked at her own tray, imagining it was metal and pretending to smash it with her fists. "Wabam…"
Momo created a few paper towels and smiled, since the mess was in front of her and Iida. "I don't mind cleaning this up."
Iida grabbed half of the paper towels and nodded. "Let me help."
Kyouka shrunk in her chair from embarrassment, watching these two clean up her mess while she took a bite of pork. 'Yeah, I deserve to be embarrassed… But at least I can distract myself with the food. Tastes amazing. Not as good as the one his mom makes. But that's a good thing.'
"So, Kyouka, what took you so long to get here anywa-" Izuku stopped himself as he was about to put a piece of egg in his mouth, staring right past her. "Umm…"
"What is it?" Kyouka turned around to see what Izuku was staring at before narrowing her eyes. "Huh?"
Todoroki was standing at the end of their table, holding his lunch tray, and looking like a statue. "Hello, all of you."
"Todoroki, what are you doing here?!" Ochako asked with her mouth full before swallowing. "We never see you in the cafeteria unless you're in line."
Momo nodded in agreement. "It is unusual to see you in such a public space during lunch time."
"I heard rumors that Todoroki eats outside every time." Izuku stated, taking a bite of his egg.
"Midoriya, you mustn't listen to rumors about our classmates!" Iida scolded, chopping his arm towards his friend.
Izuku shrunk down in his seat. "It's not like I believed them."
"I do always eat here, but it's usually at the other end of the cafeteria." Todoroki stated, still not moving a single inch.
"So, why are you here?" Kyouka questioned, giving Todoroki a bit of a dirty look as she grabbed a piece of pork with her chopsticks before taking a bite out of it.
Todoroki strangely looked a bit awkward, hesitating on speaking his mind. It was definitely weird to see the cool kid of the school acting like this. Everyone other than Kyouka was anticipating his next words. "If it's not too much to ask, would you guys let me sit with you?"
"Huh?"
"Oh god…"
"Can you repeat that?"
"Eh?"
"Are you certain?"
"I would like to sit with you guys if I'm not a bother." Todoroki slightly bowed his head, trying to be as respectful as possible.
Izuku smiled. "Whoa, you don't have to be formal with us, Todoroki. And you wouldn't be a bother to anybody."
"You are welcome to join us, Todoroki. None of us are strangers here." Momo said, smiling as well and not noticing the look of disapproval Kyouka shot at her.
Iida nodded. "Yes, please sit with us. We'd be glad to have you."
"Our group gets even cooler now!" Ochako exclaimed, pumping her fist into the air.
Kyouka dropped her head onto the table as Todoroki cracked a rare smile and sat down next to Momo. 'Good lord, why is he sitting with us? Come on universe, send in Bakugo if you really want to screw with me. Wait, please don't. Anything but that. I take it back, universe.'
Kyouka silently prayed for Bakugo to never come to this table, her forehead pressing against the table as Todoroki looked at her. "What happened to your lunch, Jirou? Are you depressed because of it?"
Kyouka lifted her head and held in a groan. "I had a small accident with-Don't ask much about it. And no, I'm not depressed. Just resting my head."
The girl's head returned to the table, but not before snatching another piece of pork from her tray and eating it as Izuku gently patted her back. "Are you having another bad headache or still feeling some pain from your accident earlier? Should I take you to the nurse's office?"
Kyouka's previous bad mood started to be lifted from Izuku's pats, letting out a calm breath as she slowly shook her head. "No…No… I'm all good."
She still hates the fact that Todoroki is probably going to sit with them every day from now on, but as long as he doesn't do anything to Izuku or try to talk to her, then she can simply ignore his presence. It's not like he's ever been loud before. She's almost mastered ignoring Bakugo from their times in middle school, so this will be a piece of cake.
Izuku and most of his classmates were all in their hero costumes now, waiting in front of Field Gamma for their hero training to start and for the rest of their classmates to arrive.
A few of his classmates complimented his new and improved costume, seeing it as a much needed upgrade, and he had to admit that it felt good to get complimented on his costume. Last time, the only compliments he got were from Kyouka and Ochako. But if he was being honest, the person's opinion he was looking forward to the most was the girl he found himself recently having feelings for.
Not a minute later, Kyouka arrived, her eyes closed in slight annoyance with Ochako and Mina playing with her hood. 'At least I got Ashido to stop playing around with my choker, but I still don't care for this…'
Izuku looked at her and smiled, a faint blush forming on his cheeks, seeing the changes she made to her suit. It was a really simple change like she told him, but he still found himself loving it. There was something about the added white and hood that really spoke to him, but he couldn't put his finger on why exactly.
The improved green choker looked even better with the costume, but it makes sense since it was made to go with it in the first place.
He took a look at her choker and then looked down at his own costume. 'Hm, she has some green as a part of her costume, so it'd be fair if I incorporate some purple into mine, right? Her choice of green probably has nothing to do with me at all, but I would like the purple to be in her honor. I'll decide on the details on that when I have some free time.'
Meanwhile, Kyouka finally opened her eyes after Ochako and Mina finally stopped playing with her hood, and saw her hero in front of her, wearing his new costume. 'Whoa…'
It looked amazing and really good on him. The costume looked similar to his previous one, but it was a darker green, the stripes on it were black, his respirator was metal now, and more padding around his legs and shoulders. Overall, this costume looked cooler and more combat ready compared to his previous one.
Admittedly, she'll miss how cute he looked when he wore the costume his mom made for him, but she couldn't deny that this was a step in the right direction. But most importantly, the base design is still there. Bunny ears and mask included. If his costume was completely different, she definitely wouldn't be a fan of it. Izuku put his soul into the initial design, and she'll be damned before she lets that design be taken away from him.
Before she could comment on his costume, he beat her to the punch. "I love what you did to your costume, Kyouka. The white outlines on your jacket are amazing. The white hood too with a design that matches your hair. The Angelbeat name makes more sense with this costume."
Not being prepared for being complimented first, she rubbed her arm. "I-I'm glad you love it. But my costume change is nothing compared to yours. Mine just has some added white and a hood, but you look even more like a hero now. Looks like it can take more punishment too and won't get ripped up so easily."
Izuku rubbed the back of his neck. "I hope so too, but I think an entire sleeve will still get destroyed if I use 100%. But I'm really happy with this costume. Other than some changes I might make in the future, it'll mainly look like this."
"Good thing the support company kept the base design there. I would've been forced to submit a formal complaint if they completely changed it."
"Funny one. But no complaints need to be submitted, I hope."
She wasn't joking one bit. If she had to, she would march over to the company and make those demands.
And there's no way in hell that it would have been formal.
"But you know, there's something I wanna ask you."
"What is it?"
"Why aren't you putting your mask on? Not judging you, but you had it on as proud as you could be when we first wore our costumes." Kyouka stated, tapping on his respirator. "I wouldn't mind messing around with your bunny ears either."
"Huh? Oh, my mask. I'm not against wearing it, but…" He shyly tapped his fingertips together. "I was told I looked kinda lame with my mask on in my previous costume."
The air slowly grew cold around Kyouka. "Oh? Who told you that? Can you provide your source?"
"I would like to keep my source anonymous."
"Fine… But you didn't look lame then, and I'm sure you won't look lame now. Try it on." Kyouka demanded, pointing at Izuku.
"Do I have to?"
"Yes. I won't let you think your mask is lame without checking first."
Izuku sighed before putting on his respirator and hood. For some reason, a shadow was cast over his eyes, only his green pupils visible. "So, what's the verdict? Lame?"
Kyouka widened her eyes at how Izuku looked, especially his eyes. They're very similar to how All Might's eyes look. "No, not lame at all. If anything, it makes you look like a badass. It's a shame I can't see the whites of your eyes though."
Izuku watched as she pulled out her phone and took a picture of him before showing it off. "Huh, I didn't expect to look like that. I kinda have to agree with you… But you know, it doesn't look too approachable if you ask me. I don't want to accidentally scare a child one day." He then took off his respirator and hood. "Maybe I can save wearing it for special occasions. And I'm sure I can wear the respirator and hood separately to still look approachable."
"That's fair. But just don't avoid wearing it because you think it's lame. Don't avoid anything cause you think it's lame, okay?" Kyouka asked, crossing her arms.
"I got it." Izuku confirmed, smiling at his best friend.
"I am here!" All Might shouted, heroically landing in front of the students. "I hope you all missed me because I missed you too! I would love to hear about each of your internships, but I unfortunately have a bento box I want to finish eating, so let us get straight to-" The hero stopped himself, catching a glimpse of Kyouka staring directly at him.
Everyone watched in both confusion and shame as the number one hero released a little squeak and suddenly backed away from them, his back being pressed up against the door to Field Gamma.
Toru pointed at him. "All Might? Why did you retreat like that…?"
"I, uh, had allergies this morning and I wouldn't want to accidentally sneeze on any of you!" All Might then fake sneezed into his elbow before bursting into booming laughter. "Yes! That's why!"
Almost everyone delivered a deadpanned look at the hero, not believing a single word from him, except for Izuku, who completely bought his lame excuse.
'Allergies?! Yeah right!'
The real reason for All Might's current cowardice was because of what happened a week ago. He heard Kyouka's scream a little after he told his predecessor about Gran Torino's offer, and in his already scared state from thinking about his old teacher, he immediately dived into the teacher's lounge out of fear. However, Nezu, Midnight, and Snipe were having tea at the time and were confused as to why the number one hero was currently cowering under the table.
Since then, he had then been avoiding Kyouka like she was the plague, scared of what she'll do when the opportunity arises for her. With how visceral that scream sounded, and the smashed hole in the wall that was found in the girl's restroom that same day, he wasn't taking any chances.
Kyouka gave a really sweet smile towards All Might and waved at him, causing the number hero to start sweating, his back now looking like water was poured over it.
In truth, she wasn't mad at All Might anymore for separating the two of them for their internships since it ended up greatly benefiting Izuku, but she couldn't lie to herself and say that it wasn't a little fun to mentally torment him.
All Might soon recomposed himself before clearing his throat. "Carrying on, today we're having a fun little race in the form of rescue training!"
"And the USJ, sir?" Iida asked, raising his hand.
"We only use that facility for disaster training. This will be a simple race. Well, maybe not so simple because you'll be in Field Gamma! Over there, you'll find densely packed lanes in a factory setting, making it a labyrinth! We'll have four groups of five students competing at a time! You all start at different points from the facility, and when I send the distress signal, you must come over and rescue me as fast as possible! The first one to reach me is the victor!" All Might explained before pressing his finger against Bakugo's forehead. "But please try to keep property damage to a minimum!"
Bakugo seethed through his teeth as he resisted being pushed back. "Get your finger out of my face…"
"Asui! Bakugo! Midoriya! Tokoyami! Yaoyorozu! You're up as the first group! Get in place!"
The rest of the students were in front of a big screen, most of them sitting on the ground.
"So, who do you think is gonna win? It looks kind of like a fair race to me." Kaminari commented.
"Pfft, is that even a question? Izuku, obviously." Kyouka answered with a cocky smirk.
"Yeah, Dekiru's mobility has been amazing ever since the Sports Festival." Ochako added on, nodding.
"Hey, don't forget about Tsu and Yaoyorozu!" Mina exclaimed, pouting.
"What about Tokoyami? He did place 8th in the obstacle race." Shoji mentioned.
"I agree that Midoriya has been awesome with his mobility lately, along with the others, but Bakugo can pretty much fly with his explosions and avoid a lot of the obstacles. Meanwhile, Midoriya has to make his way past them." Kirishima argued before smiling. "Either way, they'll all do great and show a manly display!"
Sero smirked. "Shall we have another betting session?"
Iida appeared in front of Sero, his masked face getting close to the other boy. "I overlooked it once, but I won't do so again! Especially behind Midoriya's back!"
"Okay, okay, not betting!" Sero backed off before looking to the side. "So boring… Anyways, what do you guys think the real reason All Might was acting weird for?"
Mina raised her hand. "Ooh, maybe he's in some sort of secret relationship, and he's so desperate to not look like a man in love!"
"I doubt it. All Might doesn't seem like the type to be in a relationship to me." Ojiro said, looking at Kaminari, who was playing with his tail. "What do you think?"
"Dunno. Maybe he has some boogers he doesn't want us to see."
Kyouka half listened as her classmates continued to debate on this topic, but of course, she knew the real reason.
However, before the race began, Kyouka cleared things up with All Might and let him know she wasn't angry at him. Sure, it would've been fun to keep tormenting him, but she figured he had enough. At least for now.
Izuku stretched his legs as he smiled, feeling kind of excited about this race. He didn't want to admit to himself that he could possibly beat Bakugo, but he didn't mind having the chance to prove himself. Those two couldn't really go against each other all that much in the Sports Festival other than the obstacle race, but he doesn't count it since he was also going against Todoroki at the time with Kyouka assisting him. This race may not be a one on one either, but he'll take what he can get right now.
'I think I can win this if I just keep myself focused and stay above the ground.'
"Hope you're all ready! Begin!" All Might announced, an alarm blaring off.
Izuku promptly activated Full Cowling and made a large leap onto one of the pipes before starting to leap from pipe to pipe, starting to gain momentum.
Momo was wearing rollerblades, trying to make her way through the maze. "There isn't much my quirk can do in a race, but I'll try best anyways." She then saw a flash of green lightning pass by right above her and let out a small smile. "Looks like the victor here may be clear."
Tsuyu was leaping across the pipes herself with Tokoyami using dark shadow to fly above the obstacles, but they both saw that Izuku was way ahead of them.
Izuku's smile widened as he found himself getting closer to All Might, making one big leap. 'I should be there in just about 30 seconds. Then I'll-'
"Die!"
'Then I'll die? Wait, that's not right… Kacc-'
Izuku felt his ankle grabbed tightly and he looked behind himself to see Bakugo, practically attached to his ankle. "What are you doing, Kacchan?! We're in the middle in the air, not to mention in the middle of rescue training!"
"Bastard! Quit moving like me!" Bakugo yelled out as he fired an explosion at Izuku with his free hand, the other boy barely dodging by moving his head in time before he pried Bakugo's hand off his ankle.
The two boys safely landed on the ground and were staring right at each other.
All Might sweatdropped, watching this aggressive display. "Hello… I'm supposed to be rescued here… Help…"
"What is he doing?!" Kyouka shouted, glaring at Bakugo through the screen. "It's a race, not a damn fight!"
Kirishima sighed. "Really, Bakugo…? Guess I was wrong on all of them showing off a manly display…"
"Are we sure Bakugo knows what they're supposed to be doing?" Mineta asked, pointing at the screen.
Sero facepalmed. "He has to be hard of hearing."
Ochako bit her nails a little. "This isn't looking good for both Dekiru and Bakugo."
"Poor Midoriya. He's totally getting screwed over." Ojiro pinched the bridge of his nose.
Todoroki tilted his head. "This doesn't seem right."
'Bakugo…you better not be the reason Izuku loses this.'
"Kacchan, now isn't the time for this!" Izuku shouted before Bakugo charged at him and fired an explosion, Izuku managing to dodge again.
"I beg to differ!" Bakugo continued to fire explosions in Izuku's direction, while the other boy purely focused on dodging.
'I gotta get to All Might fast. I can't let Kacchan distract me. But I can't shake him off so easily.' He looked behind himself and saw he was approaching a wall. 'That can do it!'
Izuku's back hit the wall as Bakugo fired another explosion, but this time Izuku jumped high into the air. "Phew. That was close."
Bakugo's explosion hit the wall, dust and small pieces of debris hitting his face, causing the boy to cough. "Dammit…" He waved the dust away and looked up to see Izuku land on a building before continuing to leap across some pipes again. "You're not getting away that easily."
Izuku was now a straight track to All Might, the hero now being in clear view. "Finally… I was afraid I wouldn't lose him."
"You still owe me an answer, Deku! Don't think I forgot! How you miraculously got this powerful quirk!" Bakugo landed right in front of Izuku.
Izuku sighed, not seeing a way to get Bakugo distracted on this narrow pipe. He knows he's skilled enough to not slip off or avoid making a dumb mistake. "I'm sorry, but I can't answer your question. Look, let's just continue the race. We both have a chance to win this."
"I'm going to win regardless. You can save me some time though by giving me the answer I need." Bakugo offered, bending his knees, looking like he's ready to charge any second now.
Izuku's gaze on Bakugo hardened slightly as his fists slowly tightened. "This is rescue training, and I have to do whatever I must to save the person in need. Even if that means getting through you, Kacchan."
Bakugo smirked. "Alright then. I don't mind beating the answer out of you."
Izuku's green lightning flared.
Bakugo's palms were popping with sparks.
"And the winner has been decided along with two of our racers!"
Both boys took their attention off of each other and looked in the direction of All Might's voice.
"Huh?!"
They both made their way to All Might and landed next to him, and saw Tokoyami was wearing a sash while Momo and Tsuyu were standing beside him.
Momo looked a little sad at Izuku's predicament, cupping her cheek. 'Poor Midoriya… You were doing so well too.'
"Shit! I lost?!" Bakugo cursed at the sky.
"Of course you did! You decided to pick a fight with young Midoriya in the middle of rescue training!" All Might pulled on Bakugo's ear. "Not to mention, you caused some unnecessary property damage to one of the buildings!"
"Ow! I get it! Let go already!" Bakugo shoved All Might's hand away, his ear now a bright red.
"Sir, please don't see Midoriya being in last place as a detriment to his abilities." Momo pleaded, placing her hand on her chest. "I would have certainly been in last place if Bakugo interfered with Midoriya. I need to work on my mobility more."
"No need to worry, young Yaoyorozu! You did what you could against opponents who are more suited for this race, and you didn't come far behind young Asui either!" All Might reassured, giving a thumbs up. "And I clearly saw young Midoriya's skill with my own eyes!" He then turned to Izuku, who was sitting on the ground, looking disappointed at the results of the race. "Young Midoriya, I'll have to unfortunately scold you as well, but only a teensy bit. Come here for the scolding. I don't want to embarrass you in front of your friends."
"Huh? Why me?" Izuku asked, pointing at himself.
"Be quiet and get over here." All Might demanded with a wink. No one else noticed the wink other than Bakugo. Izuku understood and walked over to All Might before the hero began to whisper. "You and young Jirou meet me after class. We have to talk."
Izuku nodded, a little confused as to why All Might seems so serious right now. "O-Okay."
"You'll learn the whole truth about me and One For All." All Might then returned his attention to the other students and smiled. "That was an excellent showcase, you guys! Things got a little messy, but thankfully, no one got hurt! Group two, come on up! Aoyama! Iida! Koda! Mineta! Sero!"
Kyouka was in the locker room, forcefully throwing her jacket onto the floor before continuing to aggressively remove the rest of her costume. "That was so stupid!"
"What was?" Toru asked, kicking off her shoes.
Kyouka frustratingly sighed and sat on the bench. "The way Izuku lost the race. He was totally about to win until Bakugo came in and ruined everything."
Mina nodded and sat next to Kyouka. "Yeah, that was pretty dumb of Bakugo to do. We all know he isn't the brightest tool in the box when it comes to controlling himself. He'd totally have a lot more fans if he wasn't such an idiot and a jerk."
"I know he is. But he couldn't have just done something right? Because of him, Izuku came in dead last. He deserved to win."
"Why do you care so much, Kyouka? It was only a race." Tsuyu asked with her finger on her chin.
Ochako started to button up her shirt. "I can see where she's coming from. We both really wanted Dekiru to win."
"It's more than that. It's-It's a thing I don't want to talk about all that much, okay. I'm pretty sure you all know my dislike for Bakugo, so that's all I need to say right now." Kyouka gripped her choker before quietly mumbling to herself. "He ruins everything… He's always had."
Momo looked at Kyouka with empathetic eyes, seeing Kyouka's frustration as the other girl continued to change. She remembered how viscously and personally Kyouka punched Bakugo during the Sports Festival, so she had this theory of it being deeper than what it seemed on the surface level. 'Just what are the details about your past with Bakugo? It may not be my place to know, but I can't help but ponder on the issue.'
On the other side of the wall, Izuku was lifting up Mineta above his head, the smaller boy struggling in his arms. "Let me go, you demon! You're stopping me from reaching the gates of heaven!"
"These aren't the gates of heaven, Mineta! You can't look! As Class President and as a decent human being, I have to enforce this on you!" Izuku shouted, having a surprising amount of trouble keeping Mineta in place.
'Does his perversion give him strength or what?! I can endure it either way! There's no way I'm letting him get a peek at Kyouka… The other girls too!'
"Can one of you please go to the girl's locker room door to let them know about the hole?" Izuku requested, tightening his grip on Mineta a little as he got a kick delivered to his face that hurt more than he expected it to. "I-I don't know what crazy strength can emerge if I hold onto him any longer! He might be able to bust through the wall at this rate!"
Shoji nodded, already changed back into his school uniform as a mouth formed from one of his arms. "I got it"
"You're demons, all of you! We were this close to the holy land!" Mineta cried out, soon going limp in Izuku's hands as the other boy sighed in relief before he gently put him down.
Izuku sat down and wiped some sweat off his forehead. "I thought he would never give up…"
Kaminari clasped his hands together and bowed his head as Shoji left the room. "Rest in peace, Mineta."
Knocking was heard from the girl's locker room before Shoji's voice came from the other side. "Just to let you guys know, there's a peeping hole that connects the two locker rooms. You might want to cover it up. Don't worry, no one's seen anything yet. It was only recently discovered."
"Much thanks, Shoji!" Mina exclaimed before looking at the wall and noticing the hole, frowning. "He's right. Who the heck made a hole here? Whoever it was, he deserves a swift kick to the ass."
"How despicable. I'll get to closing it once I'm done changing." Momo affirmed, glaring at the hole and grabbing her shirt from her locker.
'A hole?' Kyouka looked at the hole as she felt shivers go down her spine. 'Thank god no one looked through there yet. I'd be caught dead before any other man watches me change. Actually… did Izuku think of peeking on m-Wait, no! Bad thoughts! He would never do that! He respects me too much and I wouldn't peek on him either, no matter how much the devil on my shoulder tells me to.'
"Nice butts, you guys! Keeping it tight."
"WHAT?!" Both Kyouka and Ochako shouted in a panic before seeing Mina start to laugh her ass off, a poster already covering the hole.
Mina slapped the wall, trying to contain her laughter while Toru laughed as well, Momo and Tsuyu sighing. "You two are so gullible!"
Ochako pouted while Kyouka shot a deadly glare at Mina as she slipped on her waistcoat. 'She better not have peeked at him or even thought about it.'
Kyouka and Izuku were sitting in the teacher's lounge with All Might across from them. But this was different than usual. The entire atmosphere felt tense.
Kyouka finally removed her bandage, her forehead now clear, before throwing it in the trash can from across the room. "So… Nice weather we're having."
All Might sweatdropped. "Did you seriously just say that, young Jirou?"
"What?! I thought it could ease the tension! I'm not used to feeling tense around you! I know we're here to talk about One For All, but still!" Kyouka exclaimed, pointing at the hero before hearing Izuku let out a small laugh as she smirked. "See? It's working."
The boy pounded his chest to make sure not any more laughter escaped his mouth as he saw how disappointed his idol looked right now. "I-I'm sorry, All Might, but you have to admit that it's helping clear the tension at least a little bit."
All Might sighed, running his hand through his hair. "Alright, I'll give you that. Anyways… I heard the Hero Killer ingested some of your blood."
Izuku nodded. "Yeah… His quirk allowed him to paralyze someone after licking their blood. What about it?"
"Do you remember what I said to you when I gave you my power?"
Izuku's face morphed into All Might's as he widely smiled. "Eat this!"
Kyouka fell hard from her chair while All Might spat out blood. "I wasn't talking about that!"
"You swore you wouldn't do that face in front of me again, Izuku!" Kyouka scolded, raising her head, and pointing at him. "I told you about the nightmares it gave me!"
The boy's face returned to normal before sheepishly smiling as he rubbed the back of his neck. "Sorry about that, it slipped my mind. It was an impulse."
Kyouka sighed and sat back down on her chair, smoothing out her skirt as All Might looked back and forth between the two teens. "I'm not gonna ask the context behind that… Anyways, I said that taking in my DNA is how you inherit my power."
Izuku shot up from his seat. "Does that mean the Hero Killer has One For All now?! Oh god, I really messed up, didn't I?!"
Kyouka had her eyes closed, purging the image of Izuku's All Might impression from her mind, not wanting it to plague her dreams again before registering what All Might said about inheriting One For All and then what Izuku before her eyes went wide, shooting up from her seat as well. "W-Wait, what?!"
So if Izuku and her have a romantic relationship in the future, and they kiss, she could potentially inherit One For All?! Could this also involve… other ways of swallowing his DNA?
'OH GOD!'
Kyouka's face went a bright red, imagining such things, feeling on the verge of passing out.
"Whoa, you guys, you don't have to worry about any of that! Sit down and relax!" All Might reassured them as they sat back down. "I thought young Midoriya was already concerned about that, but I guess I was wrong… One For All can only be passed along if done willingly. It's impossible for it to be forcefully stolen. But it can be forcefully passed on."
All Might then presented an example of a school girl forcing chocolate on him, but Kyouka gave him a deadpan look. Even Izuku shared this look.
The hero ignored this reaction and continued. "Your quirk is unique. You can say the same about its origin. One For All came a separate quirk. One that's been around since the beginning. It's called All For One. This quirk allows the user to steal quirks from others and keep them for himself. In addition, he can grant quirks to others."
"All For One…" Izuku muttered under his breath. "Sounds like a troublesome quirk."
"This was way back when quirks first started to show up. Society hadn't adapted yet and didn't know how to deal with these newly powered individuals. When quirks first appeared, the norm for what it meant to be 'human' crumbled away. Laws and human rights were intensely debated. And civilization's progress came to a halt. Society decayed." All Might gestured towards Kyouka. "Young Jirou would be ostracized because of her quirk while you would be seen as completely normal."
Kyouka gently touched one of her earphone jacks. "Just because of these?"
On instinct, Izuku felt himself get a little defensive over Kyouka, scooting just a little bit closer to her. "Yeah, I heard about that from someone famous… It was horrible."
"For people with mutant type quirks, life was hell for them. But during this chaotic period, there was one individual who managed to rally many people together, especially those who felt rejected by society. He called himself after his quirk. All For One. He stole quirks from others and spread his influence across the country. He treated his followers like pawns, committing evil acts for his satisfaction. In a blink of an eye, he took control of Japan as the ruler of all villains."
"I've seen rumors about that online, but isn't that just fiction? It's not in any of our textbooks." Izuku said, a bead of sweat forming on his head.
"These dark parts of our history don't tend to make it into the textbooks. For most people, they'd rather ignore it. Anyways, when people have power, they want to show it off to others however they can."
"So how does this all connect to One For All?"
"Remember, I told you how All For One can give quirks to others. He made people trust in him or submit to his will by granting them quirks. However, some individuals couldn't handle the quirks they were given and became mindless husks. Just like the Nomus... On the other hand, some quirks evolved when passed on, mutated." All Might explained before taking a deep breath. "This man had a quirkless younger brother. The brother was small and frail, but he harbored a strong sense of justice. They were polar opposites. And he opposed his older brother. The man then forced a quirk that can stockpile power upon his little brother. Maybe it was an act of kindness, or he just wanted his brother to submit."
Izuku gulped, having a feeling for what was coming next.
"It turned out that the brother did have a quirk. But even he didn't know. It was a seemingly useless power that only allowed him to pass on quirks." All Might spread out his arms. "And so, the stockpiling quirk merged with the younger brother's quirk! That is the origin of One For All!"
Izuku and Kyouka gasped at this information, neither of them believing what they were hearing.
All Might chuckled a little. "Ironic, isn't it? That justice is always born from evil."
Kyouka could almost feel another headache coming along from all this info as Izuku spoke up. "Okay, I understand the origin now, but why are you bringing up this guy who's probably long dead by now."
"He's a man who can steal quirks, remember? Anything's possible. He probably has a quirk that stops his aging. The Symbol of Evil seemed immortal. With his enormous power along with the state of the world, the younger brother decided to entrust it to future generations. He knew he couldn't defeat All For One himself, so he hoped that One For All would continue to grow in power so that one day it's strong enough to stop his older brother. Eventually, the task was left up to me. And I defeated him. I thought it was over and that I ended generations of conflict. But I was wrong. He's still alive and is the brain behind the League of Villains." All Might stared straight at Izuku with intense eyes. "One For All is the power handed down through generations to defeat All For One. And as the 9th holder, you might have to one day fight this great evil yourself because of my failure. I know you didn't expect this, and it might be too much for you-"
"I'll do my best!"
Kyouka slowly widened her eyes as all sounds became muffled to her now while Izuku continued to proclaim his dedication to one day fighting All For One.
This isn't right.
He shouldn't have to fight a villain who's been around for this long and was once the greatest evil the world has ever seen.
He should be fighting regular old villains.
The villains he's fought so far are bad enough.
He needs to be safe.
What if he dies from All For One?
That can't happen.
Why didn't All Might say anything?
Why didn't he?
Meanwhile, All Might looked troubled by Izuku's proclamation before smiling. "Thanks…"
Izuku nodded, standing up, and patted his friend's back. "Kyouka? Did you just get done processing all that info? Can't say I blame you. It was a lot to take in. If you're ready, let's head out."
Kyouka stayed seated, facing the floor as she clutched her skirt. "Go on, Izuku. There's something I want to talk to All Might about. It may or may not be about your birthday."
"My birthday? But it isn't for another 2 months. Why do you want to talk about it now?"
"You know, with midterms and the finals coming up within these next 2 months, I gotta use my free time wisely. Now shoo, so the surprise isn't ruined." Kyouka glanced at her best friend and waved him away.
"Oh, okay, but please don't plan anything big. I prefer something small like usual. Or else I'll try to one-up you on your birthday." Izuku playfully warned before waving. "I'll wait for you by the lockers, so don't take too long."
Izuku walked out the door and it was just All Might and Kyouka in the room now before the Pro Hero smiled and rubbed his hands together. "So… what do you have cooking up for young Midoriya's birthday? I'd love to hear it."
"So, you knew?"
All Might's smile disappeared in an instant, hoping she doesn't mean what he thinks she means. "What are you talking about, young Jirou?"
This was different than the usual times she would scold him and he knew it. He didn't feel any danger of an earphone jack being jammed into his ear, but he instead felt uncomfortable and like he was about to fall into pieces right now. To say the least, he knew exactly what she was talking about and he was already dreading this talk. But he should've seen it coming from her of all people.
"Don't play dumb with me, All Might. You knew this All For One guy existed, and you didn't think to tell Izuku about him when you were offering your quirk. You had a whole 10 months in between offering your quirk and giving it to him, and you didn't think for a second that Izuku should know this?"
"Young Jirou, please understand that I didn't know he was still alive. I didn't think anyone would have to worry about him again." All Might tried to conciliate her as he stood up and took a step to approach her.
Kyouka snapped her head at All Might with a glare, causing him to flinch and stop in fear. "But were you 100% sure he was dead? Was there a body? Was there definitive proof he was dead?"
All Might swallowed, knowing the answer, and almost not wanting to answer. "No… There wasn't."
"Okay. Okay…" Kyouka stood up and stared down the number one hero. "There was no real proof that a guy who's been around for more than 100 years and stealing all kinds of quirks was dead. But defeating him was enough for you to believe it?"
All Might placed his hand on his head. "I know it was foolish and naive of me to believe so, but I truly didn't want to believe that young Midoriya would ever have to face him. If I'm being honest, I had small doubts in mind that he was truly dead, but I didn't want to admit them to myself as if admitting them would make it all true."
"But they are true... Look, I was pretty pissed when I learned that One For All could harm Izuku's body, and I still get a little angry and scared every time he breaks a bone or puts stress on his body every time he overdoes it with his quirk. I was even pissed at you for not warning him about this happening when you admitted that you considered the possibility." Kyouka stated, stepping towards All Might. "But do you know what? I can get past that at the end of the day. You were able to control it at 100% so it makes sense that you believed Izuku could as well. And it makes sense that that much raw power would come with its risks as much as I hate the risks. I hold no real grudge against you about either of those things. Not at all. But this… This is something entirely different. It's something I can't, in my right mind, understand you doing."
All Might instinctively backed up until his back hit the window, but he stayed silent, not knowing how to respond to the girl.
Kyouka forcefully poked All Might's chest, tears welling up in her eyes. "When you offered your quirk to Izuku, you made it sound like an absolute dream come true and that his biggest obstacle was training up his body. There was zero mention of any life-threatening villains, especially one that is a direct rival to One For All. He should've known something. I'm already crazy worried about him because of how reckless he is when he sees others in danger, but now he has no choice but to fight this guy who almost beat you at your prime, that you barely defeated. For all we know, he could've gotten stronger since then by collecting even more powerful quirks. What if he's too much for Izuku to handle? Do you know what's worse? I doubt he has the tiniest doubt about being your successor after hearing about this. Scratch that. I know he has zero doubts about it all. He might be a little scared about the challenge, but I know him. That's not going to stop him one single bit."
"I…I know…"
"You have no idea how happy I was when I listened to your guys' conversation and learned that Izuku would finally be getting a quirk after all these years, and from his idol of all people. But now…" Kyouka wiped her tears from her eyes before they could start falling. "Now I'm starting to think if maybe it would've been better if Izuku didn't-"
She covered her mouth before she said anything that she would regret. 'I can't say it. It's his dream… I can't wish to take that away from him even if it puts his life in danger. Fuck…'
All Might could see the turmoil in Kyouka and placed a hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry about this. You have the right to be angry and have your wish. If it truly bothers you, I don't mind asking young Midoriya if he wants to giv-"
"Don't." Kyouka turned away, removing All Might's hand, and continued to wipe her tears away, not wanting a single one to fall as she pointed her earphone jacks at his face. "You and I both know it won't make a difference. He won't give it away if the main reason is that it'll endanger his life. He's not scared of dying one bit if it's for the sake of being a hero and protecting others… But I am. Yet…there's no way I would ask him to ever give it away. I can't do that to him."
The Pro Hero looked right into her earphone jacks as if they were the girl's eyes. "Because you love young Midoriya that much, am I right? You want him to be the happiest he can be, but you also want him to be safe from any danger imaginable. But that's just not possible with what he aspires to be."
Kyouka let out a weak chuckle. "Of course you knew my feelings for him. Why wouldn't you after being around the two of us for over a year? But yeah, it's impossible for me to have the best of both worlds. I know that. It's the price that comes with loving the man who wants to become the world's greatest hero." She lowered her earphone jacks and started to walk away. "Guess that means I just have to get even stronger now. I can't let Izuku fight this monster alone. I'd probably be useless with my quirk, but that's not going to change anything. I'd rather die by his side, trying to help than letting him die alone."
All Might tried to follow her, but he stopped himself short, feeling that it'd be inappropriate, considering how she's feeling now. "Young Jirou…"
"See you, All Might." Kyouka ignored the hero, walking out the door without even thinking of looking back.
All Might sat down and tented his fingers. "I messed up big time, didn't I?"
'I hope one day you'll have it in your heart to forgive me, Young Jirou. I'm willing to wait as long as it takes. Although, I won't blame you if you never do.' He looked out the window, watching the sunset. 'Am I really leaving it up to you two? Will I be of any use to them in the end? Will I even live long enough to see that day?'
All Might slapped his cheeks to straighten out his thoughts and transformed into his muscular form, making a fist. "I can't leave it up to the two of them just yet. I'll still do everything I can to help them out, no matter how insignificant it may seem. I'm not done for yet and I won't be for a while.
'Because I am here for the both of you.'
A/N
And chapter 51 is done! You know, I didn't mention how good it feels to write chapters again. Especially since I'm pacing myself more and giving myself so much more free time to do what I want. (Btw, this chapter took a lot longer cause of finals and discovering Mass Effect…)
Fun fact, the cafeteria scene was originally gonna have Kyouka spill the hot curry all over her legs. But I figured halfway through this chapter that it's a really stupid idea. I mean, what I had her do was still very stupid, but less so than burning your god damn legs for attention.
Had the Kyouka being mad at All Might scene planned for like over a year now, so it feels good to finally write it after all this time. Honestly, this is the scene I've been waiting the longest to write. Since the longest I usually plan stuff is months ahead. Sometimes days. There were a bunch of other things planned out since last year, but I scrapped like 90% of them cause they were boring and lame in my opinion. Maybe I'll sure share them in the future.
I have to say I don't like it very much that I included the All For One talk almost word for word. I was gonna summarize it, but I couldn't think of a way to do it very properly. Sorry for that word vomit. I'm trying to copy less and less dialogue word for word. Hope it doesn't bore you guys as much as it bores me.
Let's get on to the reviews!
benedictloe: Yes. Yes he is
RomeoDreamWriter: I will make no such promises to stop doing that. It's only something I'll do once in a while anyways
anjoga42: I've always wanted to explore Kyouka's dark side in this fic, and I want to do that more. It's just hard to find moments that seem appropriate to show it off. I'm having gears slowly turn in my brain to figure out how I'm going to handle everything, but I have a little faith in myself.
drake wind: Husband? I don't think he's anyone's husband. For my feedback, it's pretty well written, but I'm not familiar with that fandom, so I can't give anything substantial. Just keep doing what you're doing and improve however you see fit.
Ability King KK: Can they stop it? Can they really?
Mallory S. Nocturne: I wonder too. Like I genuinely have no exact clue yet
TheAttemptedWriter: A teensy part of me wanted him to mess with her quirk, but that would fuck with my overall plan with how I'll have Kyouka fight. Also, it's more fun with two, right?
PonchoFirewalker01: Oh no indeed
Cyber-RK18: You son of a bitch. How did you know?
Shisarakage: He gave her totally non generic powers. Now she can fly, shoot laser beams, has invincibility, telekinesis, telepathy, and is now the most OP character.
bk201fan: And I hope that I'll continue to make the story a little darker over time
AGuestOrSomethin: I enjoy writing this a lot and I'm glad to hear you enjoy reading
That's all for the reviews!
That's the end of this chapter! Please feel free to leave a review!