Ryoichi POV
It's been a week since the entrance exam. I was glad that me and my friends were able to make it into UA, especially for Izuku. I kinda figured Bakugo wouldn't take that so kindly, but I guess Izuku has it handled now. He seems more confident in standing up for himself now. He's still a bit shy and nervous, but still, I'm glad for him.
Although, I still have to train with my quirk. That one punch against those pointer robots really damaged it. I wasn't even thinking, my body just moved in to save Jiro from being crushed, and I used both elements to take it down. I wonder if my mom did that before, maybe I should ask her when I get home from school.
Anyways, just as school was over, normally, I would walk with my friends and talk for a while until we had to go home. But ever since the exam, I've been taking a different route. It's not an easier way to walk home, but it's for me whenever I feel like seeing her. Just as I was walking near her school, I could see outside the entrance, and I started to speed up a little.
"Hey, Jiro!" I called out and waved at her.
She looked when she heard me and smiled as she waved back at me. Something about her small smile, I just found it cute and my heart would beat faster a little.
"Hey, Akatani!" She said back. "You know, don't you find it weird of you that you're kinda seeing me almost everyday?"
"Well, we're friends now, right? So why shouldn't I?" I said.
She seemed to be surprised by what I said as she looked away from me while being flustered.
"Hm? Is something wrong?" I asked her.
"I-it's nothing. I just…" She trailed off while twirling her ear jacks around. "I thought I wasn't considered your friend…"
"What? Of course you are! If I wasn't, I wouldn't have saved you back there at the exam."
She oddly blushed even more when I reminded her of that. I was getting a little worried for her. She's acting a bit odd lately. Is it because of me?
"Hey, Jiro, is there something wrong?" I asked as I was getting more worried.
"I told you, I-I'm fine." She told me as she tried to brush it off.
I wasn't buying it. Her cheeks were red, and she seemed nervous. She's probably sick. To check if she was, I put my hand on her forehead and I felt she was a bit hot.
"Are you sick? You're feeling a bit hot." I questioned if she was sick or not.
She got even flustered as her face became red and then she moved away from me. "I-I'm not sick! I'm just… hot, yeah! It's a bit hot today, don't you think?" She said as she was fanning herself.
"But… it's not exactly spring yet…?" I said in confusion.
It was still a bit chilly out, but it was slowly starting to warm up. But still, there was something off with her. Her face was getting more red than before, and steam started coming from her head.
"Are you sure that you're fine?" I asked her again.
"Y-Yeah! I'm totally fine, see?" She said, trying to convince me. "Say, how about we go hangout now, yeah? Yeah, let's go do that!"
Jiro suddenly grabbed my hand and she started dashing off, pulling my arm along the way.
"Jiro, I appreciate this, but mind if you slow down?!" I shouted for her to slow down a bit, but she just continued running to wherever.
Eventually she finally stopped running as we came to a stop and I was catching my breath.
"Jeez… I wonder if you have the super speed or me…" I said while panting.
"Sorry about that. I thought I could pick out where we could hangout today. You know, to repay you for saving me at the exam." Jiro said with some kindness in her voice.
"Jiro… That's really nice of you. Thank you." Ryoichi thanked her with a warm smile as he had a small blush on his face. "Though… does this hangout require us holding hands the whole time?"
Jiro looked confused at him until she looked down and saw we were holding hands. She oddly began to blush as her entire face became a shade of red and she retracted her hand from mine
"N–no! As if I wanted to hold hands with you!" Jiro pouted as she crossed her arms and looked away from me.
"Oof. That kinda hurts, you know. And here I thought you were warming up to me." I said in a joking tone.
Jiro only groaned in annoyance while I chuckled a little. We walked into the place she picked for us and I got curious about it. Never thought Jiro would have this type of hobby.
"Huh, I take it that you have a thing with music." I said to her.
Jiro looked perplexed at first and then looked up and saw we walked into a music store. She looked surprised as if she didn't know about this blush and
was looking red again.
"W-wait, what?" Jiro said in confusion.
"You said you were picking the place for today, right? Is this what you had in mind?" I asked her.
"I… um… y-yeah! Totally meant to pick this place out!" Jiro said with a small laugh.
I raised an eyebrow as I looked suspicious at her. She's been acting odd ever since I started to come by and hangout with her. She always gets a bit flustered and messes with her earjacks when I compliment her. Not only that, her cheeks become red and always feeling hot, like she's sick but she keeps saying she's fine.
"You know, if you're not feeling well, we can just cancel today and maybe come back another time. I mean, I enjoy spending time with you, but if you're sick then you should be resting now." I said as I was being more concerned for her.
"It's fine, really! I'm not sick at all, so we can still hang for today." Jiro convinced me to stay for a while.
I shrugged it off and agreed to check out the music shop. We only walked and browsed what was there, like different CDs, instruments, and some songbooks. We even got to listen to samples of some songs. What really caught my eye were the guitars as one was red with some black lining webbing.
"You play the guitar?" Jiro asked me, bringing me out of my amazement.
"Oh? Kinda. My brother had one, and would sometimes let me play it when I was younger. I wouldn't say I was that good." I said with a small chuckle, and Jiro giggled.
"Maybe you were good. You could maybe… play for me sometimes?" Jiro said, looking nervous again.
I got a bit flustered when she asked me that. "Well uh… Sure! I could play sometimes. But… I don't know exactly how and don't have the money for this one, sorry." I said as I scratched my nape.
"Nah, it's fine. You still got your brother's right?"
"I would, but he uh… he sold it. Had to make some money to help my mom with raising us, since she's retired at the moment."
"Oh, right, sorry I asked." Jiro said, apologizing to me.
"Don't worry about it. I'll still do what I can to learn how to play, so I can show it off to you." I told her with a small smile.
Jiro looked a bit startled to hear that and returned a smile back at me. We continued to talk about different music in the meantime until we decided it was time for us to go home. While we were walking, we talked to each other on the way about today.
"Today was actually fun, don't you think?" I said.
"Yeah… it was. I'm glad you became my friend, and stood by me this whole time." Jiro said with kindness.
"Aww, that was actually nice this time, and not so mean." I said jokingly, trying to make her laugh.
"Okay, don't make me regret saying that." She said as she laughed a little.
"Oh, I'm pretty sure you won't. You're already warming up to me. And you really know your stuff with music. Is that really your hobby at home?" I asked Jiro.
"Yeah, it kinda is…" Jiro said while messing with her earjacks. "My parents are musicians, so I got it from them."
"That's really nice. Say, how about you teach me how to play guitar? You do have one right?"
Jiro got flustered again and was blushing like crazy. "W-well I… I don't really want to talk about it."
"Why not?" I asked with curiosity.
"It's because… Well you see, the thing is…" Jiro was trying to explain to me something but was having a hard time getting the words out.
I patiently waited for her explanation, until I saw something wrong with her face. I stopped her as I grabbed her hand and had her face me.
"A–Akatani?" Jiro asked, sounding surprised.
I took a closer look at her face as her face was slightly getting more red. I put my hand on her forehead and felt she was actually burning up this time. Not only that, her eyes look tired looking and her nose was a bit red.
"Jiro… you really are sick!" I said and she stuck her earjack into my ear, making me back off of her.
"You got all into my face just for that?!" She shouted at me.
"Okay, okay! I'm sorry! But, still, you're actually sick. Your nose is red and you look tired, like you haven't gotten any sleep. I knew something was wrong with you." I said as I grabbed and started to walk her home.
"Akatani, I told you, I'm… Achoo!" Jiro sneezed as we stopped.
I looked back at her was about to lecture, but got worried. She was shivering and she looked like she could barely stand with her legs looking like they were about to give up. I went to her side as I helped her up and wrapped my scarf.
"Akatani..?" Jiro looked up at me with her tired eyes.
"I got you. I'll take you home, okay?" I told her as she nodded and held onto my arm.
As we were walking, she held her grip tighter as she was shivering a bit, and it sounded like she was trying to say something.
"Akatani… I'm sorry…" Jiro whispered quietly.
I felt myself get flustered, but regained focus.
"It's okay. If this is about the exam, I'm over it now. Let's just get you home." I said as I helped her get home.
Soon, we arrived at her place. Jiro let go of my arm and was walking to her door as I stayed back a bit to make sure she gets in.
She got inside before she waved at me and I waved back.
"At least she's safe, that's all that matters." I thought to myself and was making my home now.
Jiro POV
I walked into my house as I waved at Akatani and closed the door. I sat my stuff down and was making my way to my room to rest like he said. Just before I could go, I heard my parents call me.
"Oh, Kyoka! You're home later than usual." My mom said being curious.
"I-I was just with a friend, that's all."
"You mean that Akatani boy you've been hanging around with lately? He hasn't done anything to you, has he?" My old man said, getting protective of me.
I only rolled my eyes as I facepalmed myself. He does this from time to time and I appreciate it, but he kinda gets out of hand.
"Kyotoku, stop it! She's just hanging out with her new friend, nothing more than that." My mom said to him.
"I'm just looking out for our little girl! She's already so grown up and is going to be a hero in a few weeks!" Dad shouted with a stream of tears.
I only sighed in embarrassment at my old man overreacting.
"Besides, we trust him. He's Yui's son, and he saved you at the exam, so I'm sure he's a good boy, right Kyoka?" My mom asked.
"Y–yeah… he's not so bad…" I said as the thought of Akatani crossed and my heart was beating faster. "Anyways, I'll just go rest for now."
I was about to go to my room, until my mom stopped me.
"Wait, hold on a second, dear." My mom said and she got close and looked at my face.
"Is something wrong?" My dad piped up, getting worried for me.
Mom continued to look at my face until I sneezed into the scarf and she backed away.
"I knew it! I told you she was sick!" My mom exclaimed.
"Our little girl is sick? And you didn't tell us?" My dad said with slight disappointment.
"Guys, relax I'm f… I'm fine… Achoo!" I sneezed again and felt myself getting worse.
"Fine you said? Kyotoku, you take her to her room while I make some soup." Mom said as dad agreed and was taking me to my room.
I got there as I changed out of my school clothes and was put to bed. My mom came back with the soup and handed it to me.
"I can't believe you actually went in sick and didn't tell us." My dad said, scolding me a bit.
"Kyotoku, don't worry about it now. At least she got home safe, that's what matters." My mom said, calming him down.
"I guess that Akatani kid ain't so bad. He did save you and brought you home safe. Heck, he probably knew you were sick, so I guess I can trust him." Dad said he approved of him, which made me feel happy.
"Thanks, I guess I am lucky to Ryoichi." I said as I drank a little of my soup and stared off into space.
I felt some stares on me when I was thinking and looked up to see my parents were looking at me. They looked shocked at me like I said something wrong.
"What? Was it something I said?" I asked them.
"Kyoka… What did you just say?" My mom asked me while slowly getting happy.
"I said I was lucky to have Ry…" I stopped mid sentence and realized what I said.
I looked back at my parents as they were getting more happy and I was blushing when my face was heating up.
"A–Akatani! I meant to say Akatani!" I tried to defend myself.
"Yet you still called him by his first name. Is there something else you're not telling us, Kyoka?" My mom said, slightly teasing me.
"So not only you befriend the boy, you also–"
"It's nothing like that!" I shouted, interrupting my old man.
"Oh, don't be shy, Kyoka. It's okay to feel like this. You're at that age where you start to have some certain feelings and it looks like you have eyes on Akatani, or 'Ryoichi' as you call him." My mom said, making me more flustered.
"Mhm, and I think it shows. You were on the phone with him one time, and just kept talking and talking and–" My old man was agreeing with her and I covered my ears, ignoring them.
"I can't hear you! Nope! Nothing about Akatani! Lalalalala!"
I could faintly hear my parents chuckle a little. I felt my mom plant a kiss on my forehead and my dad patted my head. They left my room before telling me to get some rest and get well soon. I laid down on my bed as I stared at my ceiling, thinking about their words.
"There's no way I think of Akatani like that. He's just a friend… right?" I thought out loud to myself about him.
"Akatani is cool, I'll admit. He's really strong, even without that quirk, and he's actually kind, selfless…" I was thinking to myself before I realized what I was thinking and was blushing more than ever.
"What am I even talking about?! Am I really..? No. It's probably nothing. He probably doesn't even see me like that either. I'll just sleep this and… maybe see him another time." I said before pulling the cover over and was slowly falling asleep.
There's no way I have a crush on Ryoichi…
.
.
.
Do I..?
