My Jirou Academia Chapter 4: Siege
End of passion play, crumbling away
I'm your source of self destruction
Master of Puppets blasted through the room's speakers. Jirou only ever played Metallica when her mind was unable to fully comprehend new sensations. It was her way of drowning out whichever overwhelming emotions plagued her psyche. In some ways, the experience granted an opportunity to detach herself from reality for a while. She even purchased a bunch of soundproof foam online, so that the room would be even more isolated. Probably an ill advised solution but she made it work, blasting hard hitting music as a therapy session. Though maybe a song about alcoholism and drug abuse such as the one playing right now wasn't exactly like therapy. With that said, not even the most thunderous of sounds would drown out her growing warmth after what happened with Izuku.
The strength of her emotions this time around were tenfold what they once had been. Whereas after the entrance exams she would think about him during every living moment, now he'd pop into her mind at random. This alone would be enough to aid her budding likeness for the aspiring hero, yet the thought of him wouldn't end there. Along with the vivid imagery of his face just inches from Jirou's, came a warmth just below her belly.
She wasn't entirely sure why this happened, or even where it came from. Her body had never physically manifested reactions to another person. Sure, she had thought 'Oh, this girl's pretty' or 'Wow she's got some slender legs' but this was the first time that her mind was behind physiological responses. Some thermometers even entered the picture, their purpose being to rationalize whichever subconscious corporeal action she underwent. There was no deeper meaning to Jirou's growing affection for Izuku. It was just that, the sprouting of someone's first true feelings of love. Was the punk rock girl willing to accept that though?
A hand touched her shoulder as the office chair rocked back and forth to the beginning of 'Enter Sandman'.
"Kyoka, honey, dinner's ready." Mika Jirou, her mother, looked at her with profound worry.
With a deep blush, she stood up from her chair and followed close behind. The kitchen table was small but sizable enough to fit her small family of three. She sat on one side still heavily flustered.
"W-what about dad?" She spoke to take her mind off Izuku.
"Oh you know, he's already asleep. Worked on a few songs deep into the night yesterday." Mika placed a hand on her mouth before speaking back up again. "Honey, if you're ever worried about anything you know mommy's here to listen." Kyoka jumped at her mother's words.
"Uhm sure mom." The entirety of her face went pink after simply contemplating sharing everything she's going through. However, considering the option some more, she decided to open up in a rare show of trust. "Mom I-I can't uhm, there's this guy he's uh.." Both ear jacks wiggled in an uncoordinated manner.
Mika giggled loudly onto her hand, finding amusement at that display of pure honesty.
"If you're like that you'll be fine honey." A fork full with food entered her mouth as she smiled with pure satisfaction. The punk rocker was left with both hands covering an embarrassed red mess of a face.
The USJ, short for Unforseen Simulations Joint, a top of the line training facility designed for disaster rescue. In other words, another sudden trial set by their ever so charming homeroom teacher. 'Disaster rescue' even sounded like a made up term. It should've just been rescue training, that actually sounded real.
The entirety of class 1A stood outside the place, waiting for Aizawa to give them permission for entry. The dome was enormous, big enough to fill entire city blocks. U.A. 's budget must've been nearly unlimited to have such services. The upkeep of such a huge campus would seem like a nightmare though.
"Hmm? What's wrong with your outfit, Midoriya?" Yaomomo spoke from behind Jirou.
"Oh, my hero costume got all burnt and destroyed from the combat training." He smiled softly at the heiress. "I'm wearing my gym clothes." He tugged at the outfit, revealing a little bit of his chest.
Jirou's quiet yelp at the sight of this grabbed one certain froggy girl's attention.
"Jirou." She beckoned the tomboy over. Jirou complied and got closer to her, those pitch black pupils staring right through her soul. "You sat away from him on the bus, didn't you?"
Oh no, was it that obvious again? Izuku was speaking to this girl on the way over, she noticed that much herself. Moreover, Jirou did indeed sit away from him. Ever since that lunch incident, her body overwhelmingly increased its heat in his vicinity. How could she explain that though? 'Yeah Tsuyu I just feel aroused near him so I sat away', of course that isn't happening.
"Don't worry, your secret's safe with me. Ribbit." Tsuyu slightly smiled with both eyes closed. A ray of sunshine this girl, even if initially she came off as an insensitive person. Though exactly what secret she was keeping had to be cleared up.
"Thanks Tsu." Tsu? Awfully close all of the sudden. "I just… I'm not even sure about what's going on with me. I've never felt anything like this, such unbridled emotions for one person. I hesitate to even call it like it probably is, because maybe it isn't. I… don't know what this feeling is." She struggled to keep her crying vow when saying this, eyes watering and barely holding their liquid inside.
Tsuyu held quiet for a few seconds, looking at Jirou with her big round eyes. She looked to be analyzing the girl, even if her expression remained unchanged.
"Jirou, that sounds like lov-" Before the froggy girl could finish, their taciturn homeroom teacher brought a curious looking person forward.
Pro Hero Thirteen, wearing a spacesuit in full daylight. How hot was it in there? Apart from the practicality of her outfit, her quirk was actually scary, conceptually at least. Creating small black holes is no joke, even if they just manifested on her fingers. She even highlighted how it could easily kill a person and how most quirks used at full power would probably do so too. Learning to restrain oneself together with proper quirk usage, a lesson that should stick with them forever.
They followed both teachers into the USJ. As enormous as the outside was, the inside felt even bigger. This location could easily pass as a town if it wanted to, it met every requirement. They stood atop some steep steps, looking downwards at the majority of the facility.
Furthermore, their activities had instantly started as some makeshift villains appeared right at the center's heart. They looked the part, that one guy with the 'severed' hands all over his body specifically drawing everyone's attention. Both Thirteen and Aizawa looked focused on him too, maybe whoever this instructor is did a better job at disguising himself than what these two had in mind.
"Is it like the entrance exam where the lesson already started?" Red haired Kirishima with the hardening quirk broke the cold silence which had befell them.
Izuku, with a curious look in his eyes, stepped forwards towards the people walking through that portal.
"Don't move!" Aizawa extended one arm to the side, blocking the path forwards. He not so subtly raised those yellow goggles hanging around his neck, they covered his transfixed eyes. Why was he…"Those are villains."
A pit grew in everyone's stomach as an exaggeratedly muscular figure stepped through the portal like thing below them. These were real intruders, this was a real situation, and they were actually in trouble.
Jirou's first reaction was to look in Yaomomo's direction. The taller woman was already glancing back at the entrance, looking for any way out. Her eyes also darted at the railings around them, seemingly analyzing if jumping off them was plausible. She kept looking all around the area for any possibility.
Upon staring at Izuku, on the other hand, his eyes looked to be trained on the intruders. There was determination and a hint of fear plastered on them. Unlike Momo, his entire being was locked onto the idea of repelling these invaders. Jirou struggled to choose which of the two she would help. If she took the green haired boy's side, then her aid in combat would greatly assist with his broken limbs. Her soundwaves holding back anyone who'd attack him in between his own blasts. However, if she went over to Yaomomo then she'd have enough time to create anything with her quirk. Escaping after that would be increasingly easy, but there was no guarantee a direct attack at them wouldn't come. As she racked her brain, their gloomy teacher started walking forwards.
"You can't be a hero with just one trick." He seemed to be answering something that was asked, as for who directed the question, Jirou wasn't paying attention. Aizawa leapt down the flight of stairs and instantly landed a devastating kick on two miscreants.
"Everyone, stay close, we're getting out of here." Thirteen directed the students to the exit, turning their back to the villainous crowd. Led by Iida, everyone followed close behind the spacesuit hero.
"We can't have you leaving here." A foggy dark cloud made its presence known. Some metal neck braces seemed to hold it together but it stretched wide enough to cover every escape avenue.
It's noncorporeal dark purple aura went ahead and wrapped around the majority of the students. Jirou's visibility was heavily reduced, she could hear someone screaming 'everyone' through the dark cloud covering her eyes. What this person was is unclear, but it wouldn't be out of the question that whatever was happening would kill her. Her earjacks darted to her ankle speakers but only connected just after she was fully enveloped. Soon enough, everyone that was covered with this thing's body had disappeared from atop the stairs.
"Wake up Jirou." Some familiar dark black pupils stared down at her. That voice was similar as well, unmistakably this was Tsuyu kneeling beside her. Her back was flatly laid out on a wooden floor and she looked upwards at the dome's ceiling. What was that enormous weight on the back of her head though? Wait, where were they again?
"Ugh, where are we?" Jirou sat up slowly, almost held down by the formidable tonnage on the back of her skull.
She was met with some dark green eyes looking directly at her, insanely close too. The hair was similar to someone she knew as well. This person was kneeled down near her feet, before rising up they were probably concernedly looking downwards. Yet now their noses were accidentally touching and he looked completely taken aback by her way of getting up. Her lower half gained considerable heat, noticing who this was.
"S-s-s-s-sorry Jirou, too close." Izuku backed away almost immediately, this time around conscious of being so close to a girl. The last time they were this close, it was like he didn't even notice her gender.
"I-I-It's fine." Jirou twirled her earjacks with both hands, trying to hide the fact that this was their first interaction in quite a while. How embarrassing was that? Avoiding him only to be met with his face that close.
She continued being shy for a second before a pained expression took over her countenance. Through this pain, a chilling thought came to her, how did she even get there to begin with? The last thing she remembered was….. falling asleep in her room?
"You should stay put." Tsuyu spoke to her side, looking over some sort of weird railing. They were in some sort of domed stadium, water around them. This place looks awfully like a boat. "You hit your head pretty hard." Tsuyu still looked away from her, down into someplace further below the railing.
"Sorry, how did we get here?" Jirou rubbed the back of her head in an attempt to relieve how much it weighed down on her.
Izuku's expression turned into a completely distressed one, he turned his gaze to Tsuyu who looked back for a second. They both seemed to agree on something before he began speaking.
"Jirou, listen carefully, villains have invaded U.A." Izuku spoke softly and a bit slowly. "We're in a boat surrounded by them, can you pinpoint their location?" He even made hand signs as he spoke.
It's common knowledge, speak softly, make no alarming declarations, make them feel safe, don't expose them to loud sounds, all measures for dealing with a concussed individual.
"Am I concussed?" Jirou now expressed some worry, she genuinely didn't remember when villains even showed up or how the three of them ended up on this boat. She started to frantically look at her surroundings, some panic seeped in.
"Possibly. But we have more pressing matters right now." Tsuyu spoke as callously as always. She was right anyway, the villains below them took priority.
"I was speaking with As-Tsuyu before you woke up. We fight, can't afford to wait for help" There it was again, that attractive look of pure determination. He looked like the world was his oyster with that face. If only he'd pick her up off her feet like a princess. Was that the concussion talking?
Izuku made his way over to the railing and started to vault over it, he stopped for a second and looked back directly at Jirou. He then flashed a smile, one reminiscent of All Might's own. For some reason it felt like this was such a him thing, he constantly made those he helped feel the warmth of someone who cared.
"Jirou, grab on." Tsuyu shuffled over and pointed at her waist. None the wiser, she put her arm around the frog girl, letting the amphibian carry her. From behind them both, a scream identical to one of Bakugo's catchphrases rang through the area.
"Die!" Izuku disappeared over the railing. Such an uncharacteristic way of carrying himself, this must be a very elaborate plan. A few seconds went by, complete silence. Tsuyu took this time to flex her legs all the way down, preparing for a leap. Her hips looked like they grew about thrice as wide during this.
"Hold on tight." Tsuyu warned the musician.
Just then, a thunderous sound boomed from below the pair. A gust of wind shot down directly onto the water's surface, a certain someone on the other end of the attack. The green haired boy was completely airborne, his hand pointing directly at the villains.
"Asui!" He screamed at the top of his lungs in their direction.
Tsuyu springboarded off the boat's floor, with Jirou held close beneath. Finally she had understood their plan, that 'Die' spiel from earlier was none other than a distraction for them to escape. Coupled with the forming vortex on the water's surface, this was a surefire way of ridding themselves of the criminal problem as well as their random displacement.
"I told you to call me Tsu!" the amphibian remarked.
As for Tsuyu's jump, she hung in the air well for a frog; they hadn't even reached the apex when her tongue extended. Izuku was pulled towards the frog hero in training, her bare tongue slobbering all over his wrist. In spite of that, he seemed to be preoccupied with what was happening inside the waterbody.
"Any second now, after water is heavily compressed…" Izuku was muttering something, only he could hear what was said. His gaze still held that unwavering focus.
Moments later, a column of water shot up several meters upwards, spewing and throwing villains all around the area. This completely woke Jirou up, the feeling of grogginess and a heavy head entirely gone. That ridiculous sight was what it took.
"Where are we going now?" Her lucidness came with a spurt of curiosity.
"To where Mr. Aizawa was." Izuku, now clutching both of his fingers, kept his stare placed right around the area where the intruders first appeared.
A horrid spectacle, their teacher's head face down, covered in blood. The terrifyingly muscular thing crushing his head relentlessly hurt the man. Slowly and methodically, in a dominant manner, it squished Aizawa's bleeding skull. All the three could do for a while was stare in horror as this lovecraftian mess of flesh kept harming him over and over.
"No dice. It's a game over this time. I'll take some students with me" Their cowering was interrupted when that one villain with multiple severed hands grasping his entire body jumped towards the group.
It wasn't like Jirou was afraid of dying, her feelings towards her eventual departure from earth remained indifferent. Worrying too hard about an eventual occurrence such as death would only make her unable to live in the moment. She'd burn that bridge once it was in front of her. Nonetheless, facing that event right now in her first year of high school wasn't exactly something within expectation. This weird hand villain was about to kill her, with no remorse, together with the froggy girl beside her. The hero microcosm was far more than any of them expected. They had gone into something they weren't truly ready for and so the world punished them for it.
"Tch. You really are cool aren't you? Eraserhead." A low, muffled and depressive voice entered their ears. Jirou had ceased having any sort of hope but even after this man so significantly closed the distance, she remained alive. Their reticent homeroom teacher had his eyes locked onto the gray haired villain, erasing his quirk.
"Get away from them!" Izuku had jumped in. Again and again he's proven himself someone whose body moves before they can fully think about the situation. "SMASH!"
The clump of mass speedily shifted right to the smaller villain, defending with its chest. Izuku's fist connected and an enormous gust of wind covered the massive creature, blowing away nearby enemies. The palm trees in the water area looked as if they were about to rip out of the ground from the shockwave. Jirou covers her face as both ear jacks are blown backwards, wobbling from the wind pressure. Her eyes rested on the boy's arm during the blast, fully expecting it to go limp. She prepared to pull him back when the attack subsided, starting to extend her earlobes. Astonishingly, Izuku's arm was unharmed and he even exerted a degree of surprise at the fact.
Yet, even after receiving such a potent hit, the muscled abomination remained unharmed. It's terrifying eyeballs now stalking a stunned Izuku. There was something uncanny about this monster, like he was so close to being human but at the same time still way too dehumanized to be one.
"Smash? Are you perhaps a fan of All Might?" The villain behind this eyesore spoke ironically.
One enormous hand loomed over the green haired boy. The silent servant seemingly prepared to replicate Aizawa's torture on the boy. Jirou's heart dropped, her ear jacks instinctively shooting out faster than her mind could react. At that same moment, Tsuyu's tongue extended in Izuku's direction looking to pull him back instantly. They were too late, however, and it was just a matter of half a second until the monstrously enormous villain crushed his skull.
Around where they entered the facility, a sound of clashing metal was heard. A cloud of smoke covered the opening. Some steps were heard and a highly muscular silhouette walked inside. This person was not smiling and they clutched on their tie whilst walking into the dome.
Jirou's ear jacks were wrapped around Izuku's face, entirely covering his mouth, nose and ears. She felt it pivotal that his head be away from danger first so she subconsciously only wrapped there. Tsuyu's tongue on the other hand had pulled the boy back by his middle section, specifically his chest. The unsettling creature had stopped purposely after hearing that startling sound around the facility's entrance.
"Retreating is put on hold. We just got a continue." Even with the severed hand muffling his voice, the smile on the hand villain's face could be heard.
All Might stood silent atop the stairs to the entrance.
"Yaomomo your face…." Jirou looked upwards at the taller woman, concerned about a new feature that had appeared on it.
"There were quite a number of villains." Momo awkwardly smiled at the tomboy. She wasn't used to receiving attention of this nature.
"But your face…." Jirou put her hand on Yaomomo's cheek, rubbing over the linear injury that was now there. Her finger lightly ran over the surface, feeling that it was made by something sharp. As to what actually slashed Momo's refined face, there could be infinite possibilities ranging from a sharpening quirk to a simple kitchen knife used as a weapon.
"I'll look more like a hero from now on." the heiress tried to calm her down. She felt a little shiver down her spine but ultimately let the punk rocker caress her newly obtained battle scar. It was probably wiser to let her deal with whatever she was feeling by herself. A few more light treads over the cut and Jirou retreated her hand.
"I'm heading to the infirmary now, you should get that checked out." The smaller girl turned her back and started to walk towards an ambulance. Jirou's upper head had bandages all around it. She'd been bleeding for a while, though it contained itself inside her hair. A deep headache had appeared once her body's adrenaline disappeared. Once reaching around, some blood dripped onto her hand. She soon found herself being bandaged up by some paramedics. Her condition was such but she was still prioritizing other's well being. Especially Izuku, who was once again carried off on a stretcher.
All Might had dispatched the villains swiftly, hitting that shock absorbing monster through the USJ's ceiling. Apparently that thing had multiple quirks and being able to withstand All Might's powerful strikes was one of them. Watching it regenerate its decimated arm with its second quirk was gruesome. Even Todoroki with his ice was no match for the thing. Safe to say, nobody else who was present would've been able to fight that abomination.
More pressingly, Izuku once again jumped in at the sight of someone in danger, this time that person being the number one hero. His arm hadn't been charred after hitting the enormous villain yet when aiding All Might, his limbs did get damaged, both of his legs to be exact. Earlier, he was taken in unison with the epitome of heroes to the schools infirmary. While Jirou was heading there to get checked out, she was focused more on the injured greenie.
How U.A. was even a real school was beyond her, their campus was bigger than most towns. The ambulance took a full ten minutes to reach the main student building. It hurt her brain to keep wondering about the budget so she simply made her way over to the nurses office.
The building being so devoid of life was alien for Jirou, it felt as if she were a trespasser. Being there after hours was probably not something anyone should experience, almost like this was something forbidden. That was probably why she sped up, a sensation of artificial dread filling her.
She stopped at the door to the infirmary, catching her breath. While she had spoken to him during the USJ incident, there was still some apprehension on her part. Her growing attraction for Izuku was quickly consuming Jirou from inside. Therefore, before pushing the door open she inhaled deeply.
"Oh, so this is your successor?" An unknown voice spoke from within. Judging by its pitch, this person wasn't a student.
Curious as ever, Jirou pushed the door ajar so that she could sneakily look inside. Nothing could've prepared her for what she saw. There was an impressively skinny individual sitting on a nursery bed. He seemed to be speaking candidly to a police member. Next to them was Izuku, laid down on the bed, awake. There was also an old looking little girl, presumably the school's nurse: Recovery Girl. Where was All Might? Weren't his injuries suspiciously in a similar position to this man's bandages? Wait…
"Geez All Might, you should take better care of your students." Recovery Girl spoke from atop her desk chair.
In response, the skinny man laughed and rubbed the back of his head simultaneously. All Might? This man chuckled in response. He was taken together with Izuku to the infirmary. The policeman said successor. It's just Izuku in there apart from the other three. His power is very similar to All Might's. He shouted 'SMASH' prior to hitting the monster.
In pure shock, Jirou covered her own mouth with both hands. She had reached many conclusions in just a few seconds, these led to an involuntary action. With both hands placed on her mouth, the door she previously held ajar slowly creeped open.
Greenie's eyes met her own as she stood below the doorframe, her mouth agape and covered. Their fate now intertwined.
To be continued…..
A/N
Hey readers, how's life?
I tried to cut down as much of the action as possible, describing a punch or a kick or a movement is far less engaging so I removed everything I could. I made some minor changes to how the USJ incident played out but I maintained the narrative it told nonetheless. Those changes were made as a consequence to some characters being switched around. I think I'm not alone in saying Mineta is a terrible character so I plan to never mention him. Momo's scar is there to stay unfortunately. It makes sense since Jirou basically kept most of the enemies away in the original. In this version, Momo was tasked with having a lot more hand to hand combat so getting hurt is not out of the equation.
These chapters are getting longer and longer, but their lengths are inevitable so I'm done worrying about that. About the chapter titles, I see no one has noticed yet, maybe they'll do after my clearly obvious chapter five title.
Also leave any questions you might have about me/the series in the reviews or comments, I'll make sure to answer them in my next author's note.
That's about it, I'm open to any and all criticism, if you feel a character is misrepresented then please point them out.
Have a good rest of your day.
The Grand Ballad.