"Izuku, can we go to All Might's office for a second?" Jirou said.
"Wait, what?" A confused Midoriya turned around to see his girlfriend.
Without him noticing, Jirou had snuck up behind Midoriya, while the rest of Class 1A was trekking down the hallway towards the cafeteria. It had been a rather fast Monday morning for the class, which was a pleasant surprise, and they were more than eager to have their lunch break. Thankfully for Jirou, Midoriya had been walking by himself at the back of the herd, making her advance less obvious to those in front of them.
"I need to tell you something privately," Jirou whispered.
With a nod of understanding from Midoriya, the two of them walked towards the opposite direction, which was where All Might's office was located. Upon entering the room, Jirou was relieved that All Might was not in there at the moment.
"Izuku, we can't go over to my house this week. I wanted to tell you this morning, but I overslept and didn't have a chance," Jirou said.
"Why? Is something wrong?" Midoriya asked.
"Turns out my parents are going on a trip to America - "
"Your parents are going to America?!" Midoriya nearly screamed.
Jirou gave a sheepish laugh to his reaction. As soon as she had said 'America,' she realized that he would likely freak out to some degree, given his love for All Might. Even if she wasn't a mega-fan like Midoriya, she was more than aware of the importance of America in All Might's life.
"...Yep, a business trip. They talk to agents and stuff out there," Jirou added.
"Oh, that makes sense. Flights to America are so expensive nowadays!" Midoriya said.
Jirou nodded to his statement. "Anyways, we can't stay over there this week. I'm sorry, Izuku, I honestly had no idea."
"It's not a big deal, we can just practice here," Midoriya answered.
Although he tried to be upbeat, Jirou could hear the slight disappointment in his voice. She, too, shared in his disappointment over the matter. Even though she was extremely talented as a singer and musician, her parents would have undoubtedly been able to help them to an even greater degree. Along with the advantage of being away from campus for a night, and not having to worry about Class 1A prying over their time spent together, it was a letdown for both of them.
A letdown until Midoriya's eyes lit up, much to Jirou's surprise.
"Hey, I have an idea. How about we go over to my apartment on Tuesday instead?" Midoriya suggested.
Before he had even finished his sentence, it was now Jirou's eyes that lit up. She could feel her face flush red as his idea began to resonate with her.
"Y-You really want me to? And to meet your parents?" Jirou stammered.
"I mean, sure, why not? I've already met your parents, right? And it's only my mom who's there, my dad works overseas."
"Well you do have a point... I was overthinking it all. Sure, let's do it," Jirou said. "Oh hey, is it alright that we're in All Might's office without him knowing?"
"Hmm, I'm not - "
Jirou waved her arm to cut off Midoriya. Before either of them could say another word, she extended her left earphone jack into the wall. The commotion left Midoriya confused, unsure of what the problem was.
"Shit, I think All Might's about to enter!" Jirou said.
"Just - oh, hide in that closet! I don't know if he would want anyone else in here!" Midoriya urged.
Just as the doorknob to the office door turned, Jirou dove for the closet in the corner of the office, slipping in before anyone could notice. Although she had no way of seeing who had entered, the voice she heard seconds later confirmed her suspicions.
"Young Midoriya! Gawking in my office without asking first, I take it?" All Might chirped, causing his successor to give a nervous laugh.
"Sorry All Might, I should've scheduled a meeting in advance," Midoriya said. "Anyways, I'm gonna go to the - " Midoriya stopped.
He realized that he could not leave. How would Jirou be able to escape?
"Nonsense! I was going to ask if you could spend lunch here, anyways. Last night's meeting about - "
"WAIT!" Midoriya nearly screamed.
" - One For All was very intriguing, so I thought the best course of action would be to continue our discussion about our quirk," All Might finished.
"...What?" Midoriya said.
The response left All Might stumped. Midoriya had no idea how he was going to get out of this one. He knew how good Jirou's hearing was. Any word that was uttered was going to be picked up by her.
"Young Midoriya, in case you forgot, we were talking about how well you've copied my Delaware Smash - "
"STOP!" Midoriya yelled from the top of his lungs.
All Might was now concerned. He had rarely seen his successor act so distressed over what appeared to be an ordinary matter.
However, he soon realized what the issue was.
The door of the closet in his office slammed open. Appearing at once was Kyouka Jirou. She had her arms crossed, giving a glare towards the two of them.
"One For All? Our quirk? What's going on here?" Jirou asked.
Midoriya felt himself deflate. All Might swore under his breath.
A long, long explanation from All Might would begin to answer all of Jirou's questions regarding Midoriya's quirk. The explanation was so long and so urgent, in fact, that All Might got approval from Aizawa to excuse them from their afternoon class. Midoriya and Jirou sat on one couch, while All Might sat on a couch across from them. Although Jirou was intrigued by what was going on, she also knew that her and Midoriya both being absent would only lead to more questions and accusations from their classmates.
All Might included all of the details regarding One For All during his long-winded explanation. Every secret that was revealed caused Midoriya's skin to crawl more and more. Jirou, meanwhile, felt her brain spin as she tried to remember each detail and see how they were all connected. Although it was awkward, Jirou could not help but ask a few questions along the way to make sure she understood everything.
"So you see, Young Jirou, this quirk must be kept as a secret between us. The fate of Japan - the whole world, actually - is on the line if this ever went public," All Might warned, using a deeper, stricter voice.
"I understand. Believe me, I won't ever slip about One For All. But why did you bother telling me all this anyways? It's not liked I needed to know anything about it to begin with," Jirou asked.
Midoriya nodded to his girlfriend's question. That specific question was all the more troubling to him given that All Might had told him to never tell Jirou about One For All to begin with.
"Unfortunately, once you knew of the quirk's name and the connection between Young Midoriya and I, hiding it would only be to your own detriment. You would begin to speculate too much regarding our connection. That is one of the reasons I told Young Bakugou as well. Besides, I needed your firm commitment to never say anything, and telling the truth was the best way to do so," All Might explained.
The couple understood All Might's angle. Regardless, it was now their secret to keep, even if it made them uneasy.
"I guess the story you told me back on the walking trail was a lie, then," Jirou said.
"Well, um - "
Before any further explanation could be given, however, the door to All Might's office slammed open.
"Are you FUCKING kidding me?!" Bakugou yelled.
Before Bakugou said anything more, he slammed the door shut. He stomped over towards the three of them and stood between them.
"Don't even tell me that this is what I think this is, Deku! Once Aizawa said Deku and Lobes were meeting with All Might, I knew it!" Bakugou continued to yell.
"Well, I'm in on the whole 'One For All' secret now, if that's what you're freaking out about," Jirou said in a half-serious, half-sarcastic tone.
"Just as I thought - how did Deku mess up then?" Bakugou asked.
The room then went silent. Bakugou's scowl only continued to grow as one of them waited for someone to explain what had happened.
"It's none of your business, Young Bakugou. However, Young Midoriya did not 'mess up,' it was just an unfortunate mishap that led to Jirou learning of it," All Might finally said.
Bakugou grunted. Moments later, the bell rung, signaling the end of the school day. Without further comment, the three students left All Might's office.
Upon entering his dorm room, Midoriya fell face first onto his bed. He kept his head down on his pillow as the thoughts of Jirou discovering One For All swirled in his head.
He could not help but picture All Might scolding him in his mind, even if he knew it was not realistic. Even if All Might had not remembered, Midoriya still vividly remembered the time when All Might warned him to not tell Jirou about One For All. In fact, he even thought about all the times that he had told himself to not slip up.
And yet... here they were now. Jirou was aware of One For All. The potential fate of the world was now known by his girlfriend. The potential dangers that awaited him - the current holder of One For All - were now known by his girlfriend, too. That part concerned him even more. He hoped that it would not cause any anxiety or concern on Jirou's part.
Midoriya then heard his phone give the sound of a text notification. He gulped. He could already picture the potential texts that awaited him. The possibility of having to hear the words of All Might's concern, the anger of Jirou questioning everything, and the ballistic rant from Bakugou all loomed. Despite wanting otherwise, he knew he had to give a quick answer. Stalling was not an option this time around.
Kyouka Jirou: I'm good coming over to your place tomorrow. Just let me know if we're set.
A swirl of confusion and relief met Midoriya, as he finally sat up in his bed. As happy as he was that he did not have to deal with the One For All situation, he was surprised that Jirou had not mentioned anything about it.
Despite his emotions, Midoriya knew he had to confirms their plans, and that involved calling his mom to ask whether it was feasible.
"Izuku!" Inko Midoriya said, answering the phone.
"Hey Mom. Um, sorry this is kind of sudden, but I was wondering if I could come home tomorrow... with a friend from school," Izuku asked.
"It's been a long time since you had a friend over for a sleepover!" Inko cheered.
"MOM!" Izuku instinctively yelled, embarrassed at the backhanded remark. "We are going to be practicing for our Cultural Festival performance - the song that I was texting you about."
"Oh right! Sounds good to me! I'm sure being away from school will help with practicing, too. When is the Cultural Festival?" Inko added.
"This Friday, so four days from now. See you tomorrow!" Izuku ended the call after exchanging goodbyes.
After a quick text to Jirou, Midoriya crashed back into his bed. He had to admit that it was nice to have a distraction from One For All for a few moments. Despite that, he also knew that it would be on his mind for the rest of the night, even with all of the homework on his plate.
"I... hate homework," Jirou mumbled.
A few hours had passed, with only a quick dinner interrupting a long homework session for Jirou. Given that they would be spending the day at Midoriya's place all of tomorrow after school, they agreed to do all of their homework today, and focus on practice for their performance on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.
As Jirou finished the last page of homework for the evening, it was approaching 9:00pm at night. She was so exhausted that the thought of playing any music that evening would have risked burnout. Instead of even practicing for fun, she decided to lay in bed and listen to music instead.
Her mind wandered to All Might and One For All as she scrubbed any thought of school out of her head. Everything relating to the connection between Midoriya and All Might finally made sense to her. However, it was far beyond what she or any of her classmates would have ever imagined the connection would be.
Although part of her was frustrated that her boyfriend had lied about his quick situation, there was no part of her that was bitter. To her, it was a secret that was worth keeping, given the dangers of the situation and the worldwide stakes it involved. Part of her wished she had never even heard it - but it was far too late for takebacks now.
All she could do was support Midoriya and hope that everything would work out as fellow heroes.
With her mind finally at peace, her attention switched back solely to music. The lyrics and basses of Deep Dope was exactly what she needed after a long, grueling day mentally.
Despite wanting a mental break from it all, however, a thought did creep into her head.
The Cultural Festival was four days away and they still did not have a song ready to be played.
"Alright, we're gonna have to write out the entire song tomorrow at this rate. I can't worry about it right now... it can wait for tomorrow."
Tomorrow came a lot quicker than Jirou had anticipated.
She had woken up at 5:00am, far sooner than she had hoped. A major factor behind rising so early was because she had drifted off to sleep before 10:00pm, much earlier than she usually fell asleep. Despite being groggy, the thought of going to Midoriya's place later that day - and meeting his mother nevertheless - was more than enough to wake her up.
Since she had a few hours before homeroom, she decided to go back to her desk in her room, and she opened her large notepad. Scribbling several words and note patterns down, the barebones of a song about heroes began to form before her. She was in such a groove that she played one of her basses to see whether it sounded good aloud. After a few more experiments, it was time to head to homeroom. Packing the notepad in her backback, she figured it would be a good start to forming the song with Midoriya later that evening.
The evening was all she could think about. It made her heart flutter.
All she hoped was for the school day to fly by as fast as possible.
A/N: And here it is - Jirou now knows about One For All! How will this impact their relationship moving forward?
It's hard to believe that When Our Passions Unite has surpassed 80,000 words - it's taken a few years, but it's cool to reach another word count milestone.
Thank you for reading! Please leave a review, favorite or follow, your support is greatly appreciated!
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See you next time for Chapter 34!