A/N: I've looked up how school terms work for Japan, as well as attempting to make heads and tails of the holidays, so... forgive me if things from last chapter and other little bits moving forward don't align with how their system works. Anywho that's just a minor detail I wanted to clarify. Review Time.
To Maniacalharp747: You know, you're not wrong, since I eluded to even the Vex being in this realm long ago back in season 4, and we even see that many Eliksni are currently Timelost alongside Dren so the possibility is there... if I ever thought that far when I was writing up the chapters ahead. Ah, missed opportunity. My stupidity aside, House Stone survivors, far as I know they all arrived on Mercury before Saint-14 removed them from the census, so the chances are very low but not zero.
Enjoy.
Chapter 105 - Renegades and Perfectors
Spring Break had officially begun for UA. To take advantage of this opportunity while it presented itself, Izuku fiddled with his light green jacket, underneath one of his white t-shirts with two green lines across the chest. A yellow snood and a pair of black shorts with his typical red shoes.
"So... this was your idea?" Beside him on the step, Akio asked to break the silence. He wore one of Kyoka's leather jackets, a blue and white t-shirt underneath with his skull necklace. A pair of black cargo pants with two chains linked to his left hip. And black and white trainers.
"W-well, not exactly," Izuku admitted. "I suggested the idea to Yuki but she said this would 'spice things up' as she put it."
"Yeah, that sounds about right," Akio blinked, unsurpised by the machinist forking in an idea of her own. He smiled regardless, stretching as he caught sight of two souls heading toward the doors. "Well, this'll be fun, I can't remember when we hung out before the whole Harrow incident."
"Yeah, though I'm still somewhat nervous about the idea," Izuku replied sheepishly as the doors parted to reveal the pair that constructed the plan for the sunny day.
"If you're nervous, it means it's a great idea, Zuzu," Yuki grinned ear to ear. The sight of her and Kyoka practically shifted the air around the boys.
She wore a loose-fitting shirt that looked like a galaxy with the right shoulder completely exposed and a hole revealing her left bicep slightly. The collar was low enough to show off her black and white sports bra and choker necklace. Her stomach was partially exposed too, leading to a red belt supporting her white shorts with a black secondary belt tying a galaxy printed sash to her left hip, coupled with only a pair of black boots to match. The exact outfit she wore at the Cultural Festival.
As for Kyoka, she went with her black and white flats, biker jacket, alongside black pencil pants with a white and black striped shirt and a studded belt and spiked bracelets with fingerless gloves. And of course, her signature necklace with the glistening music note. Same as when she first went on her 'date' with Akio in her forgotten past.
"Uh, w-wow..." Akio looked like his world had suddenly gotten brighter, or that was the blood being pumped to his brain at record speed.
"..." Izuku hadn't the words, completely transfixed on every inch of Yuki, it was revealing in places that kept his eyes hooked while showing off her exotic style wonderfully.
"I think we got their attention now," Yuki giggled beside Kyoka, the rocker not once losing her bored stare but sharing Yuki's knowing smirk.
"Try not to catch flies there, CC," Her words forced his jaw to snap shut as both stepped by the boys, passing one another a fist bump at a successful objective. "Come on, before the universe decides to screw with our day."
"R-right, yep!" Akio sprung to her side, full of energy while Izuku fell into step with Yuki, feeling her hand intertwined with his.
"You okay?" Yuki asked despite the humor written on her face, she was a little worried she overdid it, giving herself a look. "I thought it'd mix things up, y'know? I don't usually wear this often-"
"...there's nothing I can say..." Izuku breathed, his eyes completely bewildered by the girl walking beside him. "...nothing that can compare, y-you're... unbelievable..."
Now it was Yuki's turn to feel flustered, looking down shyly at their interlocked hands with a sweet smile that melted Izuku's heart. "T-thank you, I'm glad you like it."
"I love it," He did and so much more.
"Did I ever tell you how much I love you?" Yuki perked up.
"Yes, every day," Izuku smiled. "But I don't mind hearing it every day."
"Well, I do, you lovable dork," She grinned, tugging him forward. "Come on, come on! I've been waiting for the day to finally redeem myself!"
"She's really into this, huh?" Akio blinked as Kyoka snorted a laugh.
"Yuyu's a strange one, but come on, it'll be pretty cool to go to one of these places again," Kyoka suggested, following the pair inside of a large arcade bustling with life due to the warm day.
The arcade was the same one from Izuku and Yuki's first date, just as it was that day the place was loud for all the right reasons. Of course, to start the activity off, Yuki led the trio to her fated rival. The DDR machine stood with a few people discussing around it, thankfully, there was no large crowd like last time.
Yuki had an azure fire burning behind her as she clenched her fist. "I swear to you, I will conquer this false machine god!"
Izuku just stood there with a simple smile, his eyes closed. "Please, don't destroy it..." She handed her payment to start the machine up, earning a quick peck on the cheek as she dashed up to select the fabled song like a little kid.
"Yo," Kyoka prodded Akio with a jack, flicking a coin into his line of sight with the left as he caught it, her hand patting his back forward. "I know that dumb look on your face, go on," She mused, crossing her arms as the giddy child in his heart bounced. He hugged her quickly before joining Yuki's left. "How did we fall to two overgrown children again?"
"I've been wondering that since I met Yuki, to be honest," Izuku added as the pair chuckled at their fortune. Silence fell between them as the two on the stage scrolled down to the song Yuki failed before. "You're betting against him, aren't you?"
"No comment," Kyoka said off to the side, twirling her right jack around her finger shamelessly.
Before more could be discussed between the two, the DDR began with immediate results. Yuki and Akio gave a hive-five down low, then reversed it before shaking hands high, focused on the arrows flying down the screen as their bodies moved like lightning, their eyes fixated to the screen. Perfect, Perfect, Perfect, Perfect - the magenta text flashed constantly without fail.
Neither showed a glimpse of weakness, completely lost to their own momentum, the people around them might as well have been ghosts. The song sped up of course but that didn't so much as caught a trickle of sweat to form on their brows. They were training to be heroes, and have proven as much time again, what's one song compared to that?
Honestly, by the time the song did close off, Izuku and Kyoka realized just how outclassed they were. Izuku was smiling hesitantly, a sweatdropped rolling down his cheek. "W-well, I guess betting wasn't much of an equation, more like a suggestion."
"W-what the hell are you two!?" Kyoka pulled at her face, completely mystified by what she had been blessed to witness as many applauded the pair who shrugged a smirk.
"Pound it," The pair fist-bumped, behind them, the screen displayed the initials for their score. Both shared First Place as 'AKO' and 'YKI'.
The two couples' next destination wasn't far from the arcade, a place that Kyoka had been to frequently while shopping in the area with her parents. Dead End was a corner-store music shop with instruments on display, and from the black style exterior walls, it had two floors. A few customers tested out instruments across the many lines of shelves that divided the store. Black carpet and a black-tiled ceiling with spotlights. The walls were all decorated with graffiti of artists and instruments over crimson walls. Music was played over the speakers, a punk-rock song by Deep Dope too.
"Okay, so... why did you drag me over here?" Izuku questioned, seeing Akio and Yuki over at a massive wall display of T-Shirts. "Not that I'm complaining, just curious."
"Well, Akio's got his music taste sorted by yours truly, Yuki's out of the question since her family was musical too, but you-" She emphasized this with a jack poking his nose, her eyes scanning the shelves of bands and albums. "-suffer from what I like to call, 'Diluted Culture'."
He slumped. "...I don't think it's that bad... Yuki likes some of the songs I like," He tried to reinforce it until Kyoka stared at him as if he had switched genders.
"That's exactly why you need this, Pine Tree, your 'taste' isn't bad but it's not good either, seriously, do you even like a band?" He opened his mouth to counter her point. But only air came out, so he clamped his mouth shut, sighing in defeat while the purplette patted his head. "There-there, I'll enlighten you."
Izuku didn't comment, instead, flicking through the titles until one caught his eye. The first looked pretty colorful, it was like the artwork spraypainted on the walls. "What about - ah!" Her jack stabbed his hand, forcing the muscle to jerk away.
"Not that one," She dismissed with a short huff. Then went back to her own searching.
Pressing his lips into a thin line, Izuku tried again, pulling out one that was black and red, the title sounded cool too. "'Hard Rock' - Gah!" His hand was stabbed again. "W-What am I doing wrong?"
"Dude, you are - j-just... no, especially no to, ugh... 'Freeform Jazz'," Kyoka pinched her nose, exhaling before tugging him in the direction she was searching. "Look, I'll just recommend stuff to you, honestly, this is worse than I thought..." She had a lot of work to do.
Across the store, Akio and Yuki were having a much less painful time. Yuki held out a white shirt with a grin, it was like twice the size she would normally wear but bigger is better when it came to clothing such as this. It had a funny picture of a Grim Reaper smiling with a tombstone reading, 'what a time to be alive'. "I like this one, hands down."
"I'll take this then," Akio beamed, displaying a black T-Shirt with a picture of a lit bonfire with a coiled sword embedded, scattering embers toward the collar. "Reminds me of something I think Bakugo was playing..."
The time had come for their movie to begin, to say they were all invested would be a huge understatement. Plus side? Everyone else in the movies was a weeb too, so dramatics were a must.
"Come on, beat him... kick his ass...!" Kyoka was biting her nails, practically glued to the edge of her seat.
"He can win this..." Izuku was much the same, his drink gone as the last was taken by Yuki, who felt her heart racing alongside Akio.
~I... I will see my duty fulfilled, no matter what it takes, no one shall die here!~ Rengoku was absolute, drawing his sword over his shoulder. ~I'll inflict as much damage as quickly as possible - Flame Breathing - Esoteric Art-!~
In a glaring flash of flames, the expanding heat was condensed around his body, a sheer indomitable flame coursing from his body to his blade. Akaza trembled from the sheer force of will. ~Hah... what an impressive fighting spirit, to press on despite your bodily injuries - that brilliant strength of mind - and that iron-clad stance!~ The Upper Three laughed with a manic look in his eyes. ~Hahaha, now you have to become a demon, just imagine it! We can fight each other for the rest of eternity!~
A flame spun around and expanded from Rengoku's heart to his arms, legs, feet, and hands. ~Set Your Heart Ablaze. Overcome your limits~ ~I am the Flame Hashira-~ His pupil resembled a flame. ~-Kyojuro Rengoku! Ninth Form: RENGOKU!~
~Destructive Death: Annihilation Type!~ Akaza did the same, prepared for what came next.
"COME ON RENGOKUUUU!" Yuki screamed as many others in the movies did the same for the battered hero.
"WIN THIS!" Akio was much the same, their partners keeping their cheers a little softer.
Their final destination came as the afternoon stretched closer to the night, sitting inside a restaurant with live performances on stage. To hopefully tune out the bad apples among the bunch, the group sat at a table in the back where nothing could distract them, thankfully, the food there was better than some of the 'performances' they had to endure as background noise.
Akio had picked this place out based on his old patrols, stating it consisted of Kyoka's favorite hobbies. One, music, even if it wasn't great. And two, making fun of people that deserved it. So really, what could be better than to share that experience with their closest friends?
From that moment on, their topics ran until the moon overtook the sky, the rest of the world completely forgotten.
"Million Yen question here; Why don't you like Jazz then?" Yuki asked as she held out her fork for Izuku to take a bite of her food to try it as Kyoka groaned, rubbing her temples.
"Look, it's not Jazz, hell, there are some good ones out there, it's Freeform Jazz I hate," She glowered, waving her hand wide. "I see music as a form of expression that has meaning, purpose. The instruments express feeling, words convey meaning, they inspire, get you pumped up, that sorta thing - but Freeform is just wannabe show-offs wanting to act cool, there's no rhythm or beat," Kyoka frowned. "You might as well smash instruments together and call it 'art'."
"I guess that parallels why you want to be a hero, right?" Izuku answered, drawing her gaze. "W-what I mean is, you said you wanted to make people happy, be it as a hero or with your music, to be a light in their darkness, so in reality, you speaking so passionately on how music should be conveyed is you expressing what you want to be as a hero, t-that's what I think, anyway."
Kyoka stared at him, surprised that the symmetry was so close. "Huh... guess you're right," She smiled a little, rubbing the music note on her necklace. "I feel happy playing music, and I want others to feel the same way, y'know?"
The trio couldn't agree more with her.
"So, what did you want to be before all of... this?" Kyoka wagged her finger toward Yuki, herself nearly choking on her drink at the question.
"U-um, well it's... kinda embarrassing," Her face reddened a little, especially since Izuku stared at her with those big, curious eyes. He didn't know this either, it wasn't until they confronted Halimaka that her old life started to really come to light again. "Since I was quirkless, I never had any real reason to be a hero, heh, not even that tech-smart so the support course was off the table,"
Yuki then put her fingers up to form a camera. "So I wanted to be a photographer, travel the world and share things not many people knew existed; culture, wildlife, people, that sorta thing," She put her hands down, smiling bashfully. "But now I have Siva, so it doesn't really matter."
"I can totally see you doing that," Akio complimented. "I've seen many Realms through Viral's memories, even then I only scratched the surface of what's out there, let alone in this world."
"Definitely the last thing I expected of you, Yuyu," Kyoka smirked. "Well, guess everyone's got a dream no one expects from them."
"Yeah, but maybe you should try it anyway," Izuku encouraged, catching her eye with his charming smile. "Like Kyoka's music or my hero analysis, I think you'd be amazing at photography!"
"You really think so?" She wasn't sure, her practice was non-existent now. Heck, she barely remembered what she used to take photos of. "I mean... I guess there's no harm, right?"
The three of them nodded in agreement, causing Yuki to giggle. "In a way, I still sorta am," Her answer made them curious so she tapped her right eye since it was a prosthetic. "Siva's recorded everything since we joined together, so really, not that far apart from photography, I guess."
That line caught Izuku in headlights, the blood rushing up from his neck to the tips of his ears. All this time, SIVA's recorded everything. "U-u-um e-e-everyt-t-thing?" He shakily repeated, steam rising from his hair while Yuki leaned over to give him a very skittish smile with a stare that made his whole body feel very warm.
"Yep~" She sang slowly. Across the table, Akio was blinking in confusion, trying to understand what that meant, Kyoka just covered her mouth to stifle her snickering, though her cheeks were visibly pink. With a brief connection with her nanites, Yuki almost caused Izuku's nose to bleed. "Gives me pointers for what you like most about me."
"C-can I stop now, this is starting to hurt my face."
"Just a second, almost done," Kyoka instructed Izuku while Akio held up his phone for her to double-check. Sweat rolled down his forehead while Yuki did her best not to topple from her seat laughing. Kyoka was beyond confused, impressed, and definitely everything else in between. "I-It just... it doesn't make sense, how can you do that normally!?"
Izuku relaxed his face with a sigh. "I j-just can, it's not a quirk either."
"Seriously? But where do the extra wrinkles come from, and the shadows too!?" Kyoka rubbed her eyes, staring at Akio's phone with an image of All Might in his prime, then the picture she took of Izuku's exact face copying the hero's grin. "That's not physically possible, hell, it isn't!"
"Are we seriously questioning how he reconfigures his facial structure when I'm literally capable of magic and have another person here that confirms that the Multiverse is a real thing?" Akio raised his hand but was shot down by Kyoka's glare, seeing her in such a frazzled state was funny.
"That's not important, I want to know how he breaks physics!" She demanded, Izuku laughed, shaking his head as he was unable to provide an answer.
"Don't stress over it, trust me..." Yuki rubbed her temples, clearly being down that rabbit hole herself. "...all you'll find is more questions."
"You met a real dragon? Like, big, scaly, isn't a broken mess when it comes to admitting her feelings to her closest friend...?" Yuki slipped that last part in, thinking about her Mom.
"That's... scarily specific," Akio shuffled in his chair a bit but nodded regardless. "His name was Vaal, and he had a bunch of cursed spells called the Timelost spells, and since Nightmares aren't really affected by curses or time to a degree, we're able to use them, pretty cool too, but they drain a lot of magic since it is time we're talking about,"
"What about time travel?" Izuku asked, jotting everything down in his notebook for later analysis. "Or maybe accessing that Corridor you mentioned?"
Akio shook his head. "Nope, no time travel, trust me, that would be a real headache, as for the Corridors of Time, the spell Gateway uses it like a catalyst for me to teleport, but the spell doesn't work in Realms cut from the Corridors, gotta have temporal energy to use time magic, right? Not to mention the spell can get me to the Corridors but actually going between one realm to another isn't possible,"
"Hey, Akio?" Kyoka's softer tone put a pin in their conversation. She didn't look at him but her emotions swelled with anxiety and longing. "Do you... think I can see it?" She lowered her phone, playing with her right jack to distract herself. "Like, what happened... to me, all of us?"
It was a sensitive topic. Everyone heard Akio, Hana, and Velk speak of what Harrow did. How he tore reality apart in the search for power that made him unkillable, and how Kyoka was hurt, how... a lot of bad things happened. Akio never said much on those questions, only that he and Viral gave up the memories of themselves to fix things, Viral using up his own life to spare Akio's.
Kyoka was worried she overstepped in that topic, she had asked before but her questions always seemed to put him on edge. Now, his hand grabbed her own between their chairs, he smiled but there was a flicker of worry behind it. "...I did say you deserved to know the truth, I... okay,"
"Are you sure?" Kyoka asked, glancing at her friends across the table that offered supportive looks. "I won't force you to if it's too much, only when you feel up for it."
"I'd rather you ask than someone else, so... sure," Akio replied, tapping his chest. "Viral would be berating me about hiding it forever, I'll tell you, but not now, but soon."
"Then that's good enough for me," Kyoka gave him a supportive squeeze, assuring him he didn't need to stress over the topic.
By the time the two couples returned to the dorm, it was pretty late so they opted to retire for the night as the constant walking around had drained them, that and laughter. Alone in bed, Yuki snuggled close to Izuku in the dark, the only source of light being the moonlight through the blinds.
"I think today went well, especially with Kyoka and Akio," Yuki hummed, head resting under Izuku's chin, feeling his left arm wrapped around her lower back tightly. "You okay?"
"Yeah, I just... well, it's really silly when I think about it," His vague wording forced her head to rise to meet his gaze in the dark, her eyes glowed, enrapturing him as his right hand caressed her cheek. "It's happened a few times, when things are normal and everyone's happy, that doesn't happen too often but I really can't help but feel I've gotten lucky to be here... and with you,"
"You know luck might have some part to play in all this," Yuki admitted. "What were the chances of any of us meeting, you becoming All Might's successor if I never declined, there's a lot that could've been different, but who cares?" Her answer made his brow curve. "'What ifs' don't matter, I'm just happy you're happy, what else is there to worry about?"
He laughed at how simple she made it sound, "You're right, I just have those waves of thoughts from time to time," Izuku's eyes widened a little when Yuki leaned close enough to feel her breath on his lips.
"You overthink things, but that's part of your charm, well, your muttering that is," She giggled, leaning down to capture his lips but he already pushed forward, catching her by surprise as they closed their eyes, Yuki leaning against him to enjoy the feelings that kindled like a flame in her body.
Driven forward on the heat exploding from their faces, Yuki openly allowed Izuku's tongue to invade her mouth and vice versa, intensifying their makeout session as neither really wanted to let go, breathing through their noses to prolong the contact. Yuki brushed her hands to rest on either side of Izuku's face while his hands glided down her torso to her waist, unafraid to grab her hips tightly as it excited a small sound from her throat.
The hot rush to their bodies eventually led them to break the kiss, Yuki now sitting atop Izuku in his hands as both breathed heavily. "Still... amazing..." Izuku whispered.
"On that, we agree," She whispered back, leaning down to give him a far less heated but just as passionate kiss, resting her head down on his chest, staring back at him.
The way her smile was so carefree and soft, the strange but alluring glow of her reddish-blue eyes in the moonlight, how her hair fell messily against his body, it was stained in his mind, and it left only a warmth that weaved its way down into his bones. Lifting his arms to rest around her back, Izuku placed a kiss on her forehead, closing his eyes with her, both letting out a breathy laugh.
On nights like this, the line between each other and their roles as heroes was nonexistent. Both had something more in their lives worth holding on to.
A few days passed...
Cherry blossoms fluttered down around Yuki, one landing right on her nose as she adjusted her mask, blowing the pink petal away. She was walking with her class, all of them up and ready to continue their Work-Study catch-up lessons despite Spring Break now in session.
"Ugh! It's Spring Break but we can't even enjoy it because our Work-Studies are still going, boo!" Ashido whined, glaring at four of her friends in question. "You guys got lucky, being able to act all lovey-dovey at the start of it all!"
"We did plan it in advance," Yuki reminded her, hand-in-hand with Izuku.
"It says we have an Expeditionary Operation," Ochaco mentioned, Katsuki beside her, his phone up to review his own notification, comparing it to hers with a firm brow.
"So, what? Like a fieldwork trip?" Tsui guessed as Kaminari leaned back with surprise.
"Wait, for real? That's weird, same for us." He added in.
"We too have confirmation | The same criteria | How very peculiar" SIVA spoke atop Yuki's shoulder, staring at hers and Izuku's phones.
"I wonder why?" Izuku asked.
"Wonder what that means?" Ochaco asked back, Yuki shaking her head. Nothing she could think of came to mind.
"Woah, ditto here," Kyoka blinked, Akio leaning his chin on her shoulder with his phone out.
"Yep, Valstrax's asking for us."
"Same here," Shoji's Work-Study too.
Atop a cliffside that overlooked Jaku City, its citizens blissfully unaware of the dozens of Pros and Work-Study students gathered at the edge of the sprawling urban landscape. Leading the team was Endeavor's sidekick, Burnin, her flames mirroring her determination.
"Heroes are at the foot of the mountain, but we'll be evacuating citizens from our position in the back!" She relayed to her team.
Yuki tucked her mask over her face while Izuku adjusted his blue cape over his shoulder, tightening the nanofibers to his costume as it billowed in the highland breeze.
"The League of Villains - no... The Paranormal Liberation Front was revealed,"
Somewhere in the dark, Kovik stared at his various monitors that caught sight of every hero within his view, his hands clasped together, waiting eagerly for what came next.
"And the harrowing incident that would shake superhuman society was about to begin."
To Be Continued...
Fluff overload this chapter, with a bit of spice at the end to wrap it all together. I especially enjoyed the four cuts scene, Kyoka's dislike of Freeform Jazz, Akio about his spells, Izuku's perplexing ability to mimic All Might's face, and Yuki's old dream. Also, Rengoku!
A double date was something I had thought of but the ideas never sprung to mind until now, I knew I wanted it to be my main pairs, Yuki/Izuku and Kyoka/Akio but the scenes had me stumped. Well, here's hoping you enjoyed them, I appreciate the support as always; seeya in the next chapter, heroes!
Next Chapter Intermission: United Perfection
Sounds of car alarms filled the horizon with sirens and the odd cry of terror. Buildings lay topples in mounds of rubble or lop-sided. Black smoke funneled from ruins, darkening the red sky as though it were blood. A single silver cutlass with a black handle-grip sunk its tip into the tarmac, a torn blue fabric tied to the end.