To say the car ride home from the Yaoyorozu house back to UA was awkward would be an understatement.
Everyone sat in silence. They were all tired from the lack of sleep, combined with the fact this was the first time Jirou and Ashido in were the same vicinity since dinner last night.
Yaoyorozu wanted to say something, anything, to at least strike up a conversation. But nothing came to mind. No one was willing to bite.
Ashido shuffled her feet a few times. She glanced over at Jirou, trying to initiate something, but it was to no avail. Jirou had one of her earphone jacks plugged into her phone to listen to music, anyways.
Finally, Ashido decided to make her move. "Jirou, I'm - "
"Can it. If you really could read my thoughts, you wouldn't even try speaking to me," Jirou interrupted.
No one dared to utter a word for the rest of the car ride after that.
"Gentlemen! The ladies have just arrived!" Ilda reported as he looked out the window.
Moments later, the girls entered the room. Ilda, Kirashima, Sero and Kaminari happened to be in the common area at the same time as their arrival. Each of them greeted the returning students, but all they got back were cold and quick "hello's" at best. Once they departed to their respective rooms, the boys gathered together and gave each other looks of confusion.
"That was... odd?" Kaminari said.
"Yeah man, like, they all seemed really quiet and stuff," Sero said.
"Do you think something happened between them?" Kirashima asked.
"It is none of our business, gentlemen! If they choose to speak to us about the matter, then we can discuss it!" Ilda said.
While the boys continued their discussion downstairs, Jirou crashed onto her bed and laid in silence. This was it. They were back at UA, with her secret now being known. Whether she liked it or not, she would have to live with what had happened. Deep Dope was the only consolation she had for the time being.
"I have English and math homework to do. And that dumb assignment about my quirk, too," Jirou finally mumbled.
Finally growing tired of sulking, Jirou jumped off her bed and went over to her desk. She first completed her math assignment, which took about an hour. It was a nice way for her to take her mind off of everything, even if there was no pleasure in solving math problems. Right after that, she then knocked out the 'dumb' assignment regarding her quirk within five minutes.
"Izuku would spend an entire day doing that assignment," Jirou laughed to herself.
The word 'Izuku' still made her heart flutter, although it was more because of the thought of him rather than Ashido's intrusiveness. Now that he was on her mind, she imagined how he would react if he learned what Ashido had done to her. And worse...
"What if Ashido tells Izuku... shit. I need to talk to someone about this... but who could I possibly talk to?"
Jirou then finally got an idea. Hurrying to get up from her desk, Jirou ran around her room as she reorganized everything after unpacking her bag from the sleepover. The English assignment would have to wait.
But as soon as she was ready to leave her room, a nagging thought stalled her progress.
"Would Izuku really choose Uraraka over me?..."
"Oh, Ilda!"
"Uraraka! I imagine you had an excellent retreat?" Ilda asked in response.
The two of them were in the common area together with a few other members on Class 1-A, including Sero and Kirashima. Uraraka had joined them about half an hour after she had unpacked everything in her room.
"I need to ask you something Ilda, but can we go outside?" Uraraka asked.
"Sure thing! It's a beautiful day outside too!" Ilda said.
"Uh, bro, it's freezing out..." Kirashima said, leading to a shrug from Ilda.
After the two of them left the dorm building and headed towards the academic building, Uraraka finally felt comfortable enough to say what she wanted to ask. She motioned for Ilda to stop.
"Ilda, um, I don't know what Deku and you talk about, but - "
"Does this question pertain to Midoriya? If so, maybe you should talk to him about it instead," Ilda interrupted.
"Well, it pertains to both of you... I guess," Uraraka said.
Ilda nodded without response, as if he approved Uraraka to carry on.
"Does Deku like anyone? A-And I mean like love, not friendship," Uraraka added, remembering the last time Ilda was questioned about romance.
"Uraraka, that is none of my business. But I can tell you Midoriya has never once talked about marriage and potential spouses with me."
Uraraka could feel her face burn against the cold, crisp winter wind. "I don't necessarily mean marriage! But I do understand what you mean."
"Love is related to figuring out who you want to marry, no?" Ilda asked.
"You're right - I just didn't think about it like that. Um, thanks for your help."
"No problem! As your Class President..."
As Ilda rambled on, Uraraka thought about who she could speak to next. Ilda was clearly not the correct answer for her.
Jirou felt her heart flutter again as she knocked on Midoriya's door. While it was not the first time she had stopped by, the awkward and uneasy feeling always remained for her for whatever reason.
"Kyouka! It's good to see you again!" Midoriya greeted her.
"You too..." Jirou said, as she took a quick step forward to place her hands around his back.
"Oh, um - " Midoriya sputtered.
"What did I just do?!" Jirou thought to herself.
Despite the initial shock, he returned the hug. His brain went silent in the moment.
"You're not scared of me hugging you, right?" Jirou grinned while stepping back.
"Of c-course not?" A flushed Midoriya responded.
"Good."
Midoriya was unsure whether to smile or wince, but he was happy nonetheless. "So the sleepover was good, right?"
Jirou paused to enter the room. Midoriya sat down on his bed, while Jirou dragged Midoriya's chair from his desk to be across from him. Jirou used the time to try to think of the word that best fit her experience.
"It was interesting for sure. It's good to be back," Jirou responded. "I can't wait for the Deep Dope concert on Wednesday!"
"Me too! It's the only thing I've been able to think about since yesterday. I just can't stop thinking about you," Midoriya said.
"Me eith- huh?!" Jirou said as eyes shot wide open.
The two of them stared at each other. Jirou reached for her right jack and twirled it. Midoriya stuffed his right hand in his pocket. Their thoughts swirled with endless possibilities as to what would happen next.
Both of them waited for either of them to be the one to break the ice.
"Yeah... I can't stop thinking about you and how we're going to a concert together," Midoriya said. "Like, I never thought I would fall in love with a band like I have with Deep Dope, and it's all thanks to you! I'm... just so grateful."
Jirou sat there dumbfounded. She had absolutely no idea how to respond to him.
"On the one hand, hearing how passionate he is about Deep Dope almost made me... emotional? Happy? But the way he said that... thinking about me... no, it can't be... can it?"
"Well... I've waited all my life to hear someone say they love Deep Dope. Not many students here at UA even listens to them, y'know? So, thanks green..." Jirou stumbled out.
"Sure! They have g-great music, after all," Midoriya responded.
Jirou found an excuse to break their eye contact by glancing around the room, looking at all of the All Might merchandise that surrounded them. She was still amazed that even after all of their time at UA, Midoriya was still so invested in All Might. In fact, she even noticed a few new figures since the last time she had been there. While just about every citizen had their favorite heroes that they looked up to, Jirou did not know anyone else who had a fandom like Midoriya's. And to think that in addition to being a hero fanatic, Midoriya was also one of the strongest students in the entire hero class...
"Izuku," Jirou said, straightening herself up.
"Kyouka?" Midoriya said.
"Listen... I've just been wondering, um... I don't know how to say it."
"You can tell me anything, Kyouka, really!"
"Okay... I'm not trying to invade your privacy or anything, but like, do you have a girlfriend? I-I don't care either way, y'know, it's just that I've been curious, that's all!" Jirou said while clutching onto her right jack.
Midoriya's face burned the brightest blush he could possibly muster.
"A g-girlfriend? I've n-never even had a girlfriend!" Midoriya yelled. "Why do you want to know?"
"I'm... just curious. That's all," Jirou said. "I'm single too. I guess everyone is single in 1A!"
"What the actual fuck is going on?! What am I doing? Why am I even asking him that? It's like I'm acting without thinking!" Jirou thought.
"True, I'm kind of surprised no one's in a relationship here, honestly..." Midoriya said while breaking eye contact.
Jirou tapped the end of her jacks together in contemplation. She wondered who exactly would want to even be in a relationship in 1A to begin with... certainly not Ilda.
"Well, it was good catching up with you. I'd love to be with you - hang out with you all day, I meant, but I have some more studying to do," Jirou said.
"Yeah, I can only imagine, since you probably didn't even have time to study last night," Midoriya said, still flustered.
Jirou finally broke eye contact with him. She pushed his chair back over to his desk, her thoughts swirling over everything that had just happened. How was she going to leave after all of that?
"Alright, I'll see you around..." Jirou said, as she walked to the doorway between his room and the hall. "And I'll be looking forward to our date on Wednesday!"
Right as she said that, she slammed the door shut and sprinted down the hall, hurrying to leave his floor to get back to her room. Without even thinking a single word, she ran into her room, slammed her door shut, and locked it. Finally, the adrenaline caught up to her and reality sat in.
"I really just did that... he's got to like me... he's got to..." Jirou said while panting. "What just happened..."
Finally, Jirou was able to register everything that had occurred. Midoriya saying he could not stop thinking about her. Falling in love with Deep Dope. Asking if he was single, despite knowing he was obviously single.
Actually calling the concert a date.
Jirou sat down on her bed, finally catching her breath. All she could imagine was Midoriya's reaction to everything she had say.
"When I'm around others, I get all tense and awkward, especially about Izuku," Jirou said, remembering how she reacted to Ashido at the sleepover. "But when I'm with Izuku... I'm a whole different person. I actually feel confident. I can be my real self around him," Jirou said.
She then remembered their hug.
"You're not scared of me hugging you, right?" The words echoed in her ears.
"Am I flirting with him?! I didn't even think I could do any of that - this is crazy... I've got to ask him out already. It's been long enough. I'll do it before the concert on Wednesday... but how..."
After a weekend full of crammed studying, Monday and Tuesday flew by for all the students of Class 1A. Before they knew it, it was already Wednesday, which meant it was time for the concert for Midoriya and Jirou. The two of them shared the occasional greeting over the past few days, but had avoided talking too much to each either.
Uraraka had been heading over to the school building earlier each day during this week. She had managed to talk to Bakugou, Yaoyorozu and Asui regarding Midoriya, but she had learned no new information from them. Today was the earliest she had departed from the dorms yet, leaving despite there being at least 30 minutes until her first class began.
"Hey Todoroki!" Uraraka called out.
Uraraka caught the red and white hair of Todoroki's hair in the distance. A confused Todoroki changed course and walked over to his classmate. The two of them did not talk much, though there was no frostiness between them.
"What's up?" Todoroki managed to ask.
"I was just curious about something. You and Deku talk a lot, right?" Uraraka said.
"I mean, we have some conversations here and there," Todoroki said. "But go on."
"Oh, I was just wondering if he ever talked about romance stuff, you know?"
"Uh... we don't discuss that kind of stuff. Oh, but there was one thing... nah, doesn't matter," Todoroki said.
"No, it's got to be relevant! What are you talking about?" Uraraka pushed, looking for any crumb for support.
"He talked about a date or something the other day... it's complicated and none of my business, honestly."
Silence then fell between them. Todoroki then left after a few moments, leaving Uraraka to process the news by herself.
She knew Midoriya and Jirou were going to a concert later that day.
"Am I too late?" Uraraka muttered to herself.
A/N: Next chapter will finally be the beginning of the Deep Dope concert! Will Midoriya and Jirou be able to enjoy it despite the circumstances? Is this a date or is it something else? Find out next time in Chapter 24!
Thank you for reading! Feel free to favorite, follow, or comment if you'd like, I appreciate all of the support!