Echoes of Love and Battle

by snoozemoose13

Suspicious villain attacks, confusing formal invitations, their debuts lurking along the horizon. Class 3-A built their reputation from the ground up as they've fought tooth and nail to win as much as they have. But now, stakes are rising, and with life becoming more dangerous, only one question haunts every students' mind: Who should they ask to the gala?

9. Never Be The Same

A/N: Hello again! So I didn't mention this in the last chapter due to being ridiculously in my feelings, but now that we're back to our regularly scheduled programming, let me explain. The next few chapters are going to follow each house arrest day, one chapter at a time. That means today's chapter will be day two, next one will be day three, you get the gist. Also, apologies for this, but I made a typo in the last chapter during the fight between Kirishima and Mina. He asks her to give him "until next Friday" but that was supposed to just say "until Friday." To clarify, the Sidekick Awards will be happening that upcoming Friday, the last day of Shinso and Monoma's house arrest. Sorry for messing that up! Thank you all so much for your patience and your viewership, and as always, I hope you enjoy today's chapter!

Day two of house arrest.

The second they began cleaning, Monoma started up the karaoke no one asked for. This time, it ranged between selections from "Helluva Boss," working his way through the entire discography. Then he switched to full on musical theater, starting with "The Book of Mormon" and somehow transitioning to "Hadestown," sprinkling in some "Hamilton" while he was at it. The specifics don't matter, but Shinso found it important that he make the distinctions in his head. Knowing what he'd been subjected to pissed him off about it more, and for some reason, that's what he wanted. To fuel the flames of the absolute detestation he felt for his house arrest buddy. To find him that much more annoying than he already did.

To internally punish Monoma for calling him out on liking "Hazbin Hotel."

"You're welcome to join in, you know." Monoma scrubbed the door frame of Kodai's room with a teasing smile. "I know you knew 'Wait For Me.' Can't fool me with those melodious hums, no matter how quiet you try to make them."

Rolling his eyes, Shinso squeezed out the damp cloth in his hands. "Doesn't matter. I'm not singing."

"Ugh, but why not?" Monoma extended his arms dramatically. "You've got a decent sounding bass tone. I'm sure if you tuned it, you could sing circles around me. Since, you know, your class does everything so much better than mine."

Again with this? At this point, he'd be better off just printing off a class picture of them and throwing darts at it. It'd both shut him up and give him a much needed arm workout.

"I'll give you this: I don't care to be a better singer than you." Shinso continued polishing the doorknob to Kendo's room. "I use my ear to match vocal pitches for brainwashing, not 'Hamilton.'"

That gave Monoma an annoyingly amazing idea. If Shinso really wanted to, he could use his voice modulator to sing literally every part of any song he chose. Did that device come with pitch correction on top of it all? Man, Shinso had it so good and he didn't even realize it. It infuriated Monoma further; how could he brush off the very concept of singing when he had literally the best quirk for it?!

"But if you were to use it for 'Hamilton,' whose parts would you sing?" Monoma wiggled his eyebrows.

"Whoever dies first." He answered curtly.

"Ohhh, the bullet." Monoma nodded consideringly. "Not my first choice, but sure."

Amidst scrubbing a clump of dirt, Shinso stopped, frowning. "Wait, what? That's an actual character?"

"Uh, yeah." Monoma stepped over to the next door frame. "Ariana DeBose, absolute legend, originated the role, you know. Makes sense you'd want to be as iconic as her. But that hardly gives you a chance to use that annoying voice of yours."

Shinso really didn't know if all this singing talk was a compliment or not. This is what he gets for humming along to a song one stupid time. Hell truly is forever, or at least feels like it in this circumstance.

"Ooh, what about George Washington?" Monoma perked up.

"What about him?" Seriously, Shinso should stop responding. But for some reason, he couldn't.

"No, you're right, his parts are a little out of your range. Maybe Lafayette, if you can find some sort of rhythm–"

"Why do you keep trying to push this on me?"

Monoma flinched. Shinso felt a bit bad; he hadn't meant to come off so aggressively. However, he didn't take it back, either. Because seriously, why did this lunatic keep trying to make some sort of conversation happen between the two of them? And why did he keep letting him, damn it?

"Why are you pushing back so much?" Monoma rested his fists on his hips.

How was this his fault? Was there anything to be at fault for? Shinso didn't care. Monoma made it apparent he planned on picking a fight everyday of this house arrest situation, and ignoring it didn't seem to be working. So fine, they could fight. It's not like they didn't have the time.

"Because apparently I need to!" Shinso snapped. "You're just so adamant all the time about everything, it's like there's no way to shut you up!"

Monoma scoffed, offended. "What, you'd rather I keep my opinions all to myself?"

"Uh, YES."

"Why? Because you don't agree with me?"

"...Also yes, you're not winning this."

Smoke spewed out of Monoma's ears. Of all people, why did this prick have to be the one besting him in an argument? It's not like he ever particularly won in the spats he started with anyone, but he usually talked his way over everyone else until they gave in. Shinso didn't seem to give him that in any capacity. Whether they fought physically or verbally, even if he seemingly backed down, this unspoken nagging that Monoma didn't actually beat him drove him up the wall.

"I don't need to win." He tossed his hair haughtily. "I need to know why you refuse to engage in anything other than–-what are you, polishing a doorknob?!"

It's a hell of a lot more than whatever Monoma was doing.

"Do I need a reason other than telling you 'no?'" Shinso kept focused on the doorknob. "Because I don't want to. There."

Shaking his head, Monoma stooped to rewet his cloth.

"And class A always gets what they want."

That's it.

"What the hell is your problem with us, man?!" Shinso barked, unable to stand it a second longer. "Did someone in class A kill your dog or something? Why are you so mad at us all the damn time?!"

Glaring, Monoma jumped to his feet, spilling the bucket of cleaner.

"You really want to know, Beetlejuice?" Unbothered by the spill, Monoma gripped the washcloth in his hand tighter.

"Enough with the nicknames, talk to me like a person!" Fist trembling, Shinso took a step forward, ready to defend himself should Monoma attack.

"I will once you and your precious little class treat me and my class and every other student in this school like people, you arrogant bastard!"

Eyes wide, Shinso let out a laugh. Seriously? Him and his classmates, arrogant?

"Arrogant? You want to talk about arrogance?!" He shook his head in disbelief. "You prance around like you're God's gift to heroism or something, and you have the nerve to call me arrogant?"

"Yes, I do!" Monoma spat, genuine anger seeping into his tone. "All of you! You run around causing problems left and right, doing unthinkable levels of collateral damage, breaking every damn rule imaginable, and I've never seen one of you suffer a lick of consequences! You think class B could get away with half the shit you guys do?"

Class B actually held the reputation on campus for presenting as perfectly unproblematic. Ironically, Monoma remained the most controversial topic whenever any of the underclassmen discussed them. Maybe Pony and her history with men, though that knowledge leaked more quietly around the school and wasn't often openly talked about in the lunchroom or anything. Other than those minor infractions, though, they mostly kept their noses clean. Come to think of it, Shinso couldn't recall a time class B involved themselves in any sort of out of line behavior. So why was Monoma mad? It's not like they wanted to act up.

"You guys don't…I've never heard of any of you getting in trouble, now that I think about it." Shinso lowered his voice, thinking as he spoke.

Monoma huffed. "Yeah, because we know we'd never get the same treatment! You guys really can't see how good you've got it, huh?"

"Hey." Shinso maintained his glare. "Don't act like it's a walk in the park for us or something. We're revered as the best and we have to live up to that, and it's hard work–"

"Oh, save it, training room!" Finally fed up, Monoma threw down his washcloth. "Yeah, I'm sure it's so hard living up to Midoriya and his…whatever the hell he does with those, what, like five quirks of his?"

"Seven."

"It must be so–what?"

"Midoriya." Shinso bit his lip. "Midoriya has, um, seven quirks. I think?"

Why did he think that would improve the argument somehow?

Exasperated, Monoma threw his hands up. "Whatever, we get it, he's All Might Junior, and your class signed onto all the best work studies, so you're nothing but a bunch of Fatgum and Jeanist and Eraserhead successors and the rest of us just go to school here!"

"Monoma, you should know nobody in our class thinks of you guys like that." Maybe logical reasoning would solve this. He didn't know.

"Because you don't think about us at all!"

Yikes. He wasn't entirely wrong in that assessment. Nobody felt maliciously towards class B, but despite the gala performance combinations, things remained at arms length between them. Why was that?

"We'll always be second to you, everyone's made that abundantly clear." Monoma now looked at him venomously. "You get the first picks on training times, the better costume designers, extra time on everything, and then on top of it all, they just had to take you, too!"

Shinso stopped. "What did you say?"

It took Monoma a second to process his own words. Shinso watched it dawn on him; the way his body jerked, how wide his eyes grew as his hand flew to his mouth. Red in the face, he shakily made eye contact with Shinso, who looked back at him with a mix of confusion and…curiosity.

"I, um…" Panicked, he backed up a bit. "Sorry, that, uh, came out wrong. A little. I mean, it's…."

"What do you mean, they got me, too?" Shinso asked, his attitude towards this conversation shifting to inquisitive rather than defensive.

Monoma whirled back toward the window. "It's nothing. I…I misspoke."

That definitely didn't feel like a mistake. Shinso wanted to press him, but frankly, he didn't have the grounds to. For all he knew, he just as easily could have misheard Monoma, or misinterpreted what he'd said. On top of that, Monoma made it abundantly clear he had no intention of expanding on what he'd said, and if Shinso persisted, they very likely would end up fighting again.

So, confused as ever, Shinso returned to cleaning, both of them working in a deafening silence.

XxXxXxX

One successful performance later, Deku stepped out of the locker room feeling rejuvenated.

Speed and Agility practice had been going a lot better now that Iida finally relaxed a little. Their choreography still needed to be airtight, and he definitely didn't let up on their scheduled training times. But now, nobody dreaded attending their sessions, the intensity having been let up tenfold. Kaibara and Ojiro wondered what slapped some sense into Iida, though they absolutely weren't complaining.

All this led to their demonstration before their classmates going off without a hitch. Ojiro stumbled a bit, but other than that, flawless execution. Neither Aizawa nor Vlad had any notes, Principal Nezu clapped his hands (paws?) enthusiastically, and best of all, All Might met Deku's eye and gave him specifically the most heartfelt thumbs up he'd ever been graced with. That combined with Uraraka cheering wildly from the stands and he felt like he stood on top of the world.

"Midoriya, your fly is down."

And he'd officially tumbled down.

Todoroki stared at Deku, waiting for him to acknowledge his warning. After a moment, Deku jumped, zipped up his uniform pants, and ruffled his hair embarrassedly.

"Oh, uh, t-thanks Todoroki! I never would have caught that."

"Yeah, I know you wouldn't have." Todoroki looked back at the locker room door. "Where's Iida? Did you get his text, too?"

Deku held up his phone, displaying the group chat Iida created for the three of them. "Yeah, not sure where he is, though. Maybe he's still changing–"

"Midoriya! Todoroki!"

One moment, nothing but air surrounded them. The next, well, the air didn't move, but Iida zoomed up beside them, kicking up a cloud of dust in his wake. Coughing, Deku took a second to look him up and down, surprised to see how disheveled his normally pristine uniform hung on him.

"Whoa, you good, Iida?" Deku asked once his throat cleared.

"Of course! Never better!" Puffing out his chest, Iida gazed triumphantly at the sky. "Gentlemen, I've made a decision!"

"What's that?" Todoroki appeared fully unbothered by everything that had just happened.

"To ask Hatsume to the gala." Iida pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "As a form of confessing my feelings."

Immediately, Deku lit up like a Christmas tree. "No way, really? Iida, that's amazing!"

"That's great news." Todoroki smiled contently at his friend. "What's your plan?"

Iida sheepishly looked down at his feet. "Unfortunately, that's the problem. I've no idea how to go about this sort of thing. That's why I texted the two of you."

"Oh, I get it." Deku kept his cheerful, peppy demeanor. "So you need help on how to ask a girl out! No problem, we've got this!"

Todoroki turned to him quizzically. "We have?"

"Sure!" The green haired boy had absolutely no plan in mind, but his enthusiasm made up for that. Somewhat.

"Whatever we come up with, I trust the two of you." Iida patted both of their shoulders. "You haven't steered me wrong thus far."

"So, what have you got so far?"

"Um, well…" Iida shuffled his weight from one foot to the other. "For now…nothing."

Todoroki cocked an eyebrow. "No ideas at all?"

"Admittedly, no." Iida sighed. "It's just…asking a girl out is a difficult enough task. The added layer of Hatsume's eccentricity ups that to a feeling of pure impossibility. There's nothing I've thought of that feels good enough."

"Well, that's no problem!" Deku declared happily. "Let's get back to the dorms and put our heads together to–"

"Scuse me, guys!"

Another cloud of dust kicked up as someone else bolted from the locker room door. Through the small storm, Deku squinted hard enough to just make out Sero's lanky form sprinting towards the dorms, blazer halfway off his body and book bag flopping open.

"Whoa, what's he late for?" Todoroki wondered out loud.

"No running on school grounds!" Iida hollered after their classmate, who of course ignored him (or didn't hear him, but Deku knew Sero well enough to determine he wouldn't have listened to directions anyway.)

"Huh." Deku watched him go curiously. "Sero's usually not this high strung. I wonder if everything's okay?"

Neither Todoroki nor Iida had an answer for him, simply shrugging in response. As they began making their way towards the dorms themselves, a pair of petite hands caught Deku by the forearm.

"Hey, champ!" Uraraka's beaming face gazed up at him adoringly. "You guys did awesome in your demonstration today!"

As he bent down to kiss her forehead, Deku's heart fluttered. "Thanks, Ochako!"

"We're glad you liked it!" Iida adjusted his glasses. "I look forward to seeing your group take the stage on this upcoming Thursday!"

"Ugh." Uraraka pressed her forehead to Deku's shoulder. "I'm not. Our group was a mess before, but now we're down Shinso and Monoma for the week, so we don't have anything to show for ourselves other than a few party tricks."

Deku hated it when she minimized her abilities like that. He knew her concern for the group's routine was valid, but she shouldn't diminish her own accomplishments out of nervousness.

"Ochako, don't say that." He tilted her chin up to look at her. "You will always be so much more than a couple tricks. You know that, right?"

Her eyes widened up at him so adorably that his breathing hitched. Those gold flecked irises rendered him helpless, practically hypnotized, suddenly unable to speak. Or think. Nothing came to his mind other than the word he'd let slip to Bakugo after he'd stolen his phone.

'I love her so much.'

Instantly, his complexion welled up a practically fluorescent pink, terrified whimpers trickling out of his mouth. Uraraka blinked in confusion; she thought they'd been having a nice moment. Was she mistaken? Did she scare him somehow in the last five seconds?

"Midoriya, get a hold of yourself!" Iida's hand began karate chopping. "Unless you've suddenly taken ill, in which case we must get you to Recovery Girl at once!"

"Iida, I'm not sure you want advice from him if this is how he acts after landing a girl." Savage, but Todoroki had a bit of a point there.

Deku took a deep breath, trying to recover from whatever just hit him. Well, he knew what did, he just tried super hard to suppress it. Now was not the time to profess his love for his girlfriend.

Though…he should find a time for that, shouldn't he?

"Is something wrong, babe?"

Worry flashed through Uraraka's beautiful eyes, jolting Deku completely back to reality. How dare he make her fret about him? His brain turning into spaghetti wasn't something she should concern herself with. He couldn't be honest and admit he'd gotten freaked out by how much he loved her, though. Time to distract. With…something.

"I-I'm fine!" He stammered. "Just thinking about, uh, bug spray! Yeah! This is the time of year that mosquitos are running rampant, and I was just thinking about…uh, how to protect ourselves! You know, lots of bug sprays come with SPF, and in the spirit of–"

Uraraka's face dropped. Seriously, why did she have to fall for such a damn nerd?

XxXxXxX

"Ugh." Kaminari lamented, flopping back against the couch. "Why can't my life be easy?"

"Because men are oppressed, Kaminari." Mineta's fist trembled as he stared into space. "In every possible way. Mentally, emotionally, sexually…"

"Ick." Hagakure shuddered, leaning against Ojiro. He rested an arm around her shoulders.

"What's got you in a bind, Kaminari?" Shoji asked, subtly diverting attention from Mineta.

"Everything." Kaminari slid to the floor beside Shoji, who sat just at his feet.

"That's not specific." Tokoyami raised an eyebrow. Of course, by now everyone had worked out what sparked Kaminari's woes; Tokoyami simply hoped to snap him out of the dramatics of his internal suffering.

"Is this about Shiozaki again?" Tsuyu asked patiently from beside Tokoyami.

"Yeah." Kaminari sat up straighter and sighed. "I got her number from the group chat and tried messaging her everything from pickup lines to memes, but she just won't bite. She's reading the messages, but she isn't replying. I don't know what to do anymore!"

"That's rough, buddy." Ojiro tried his best to be supportive, sensing that Kaminari really needed that.

Kaminari frustratedly nodded in agreement. From one of the ottomans, Uraraka tilted her head.

"So, what's the problem? Is it that you can't figure out how to ask her to the gala?"

"Sort of?" Kaminari pulled out his phone and stared at it. "It's more like nothing I say seems to be getting through to her. I haven't straight up asked her, but I've taken steps to, you know, try and get to know her…or something. I don't know. It feels like I'm flirting with her and she's just…staring back at me."

"Uh, I hate to be that person, but if that's the case, maybe it's time to call it quits." Tsuyu suggested a bit hesitantly, catching a few people in the room by surprise.

Kaminari's jaw dropped. "What do you mean?! I've worked so hard for this!"

"It's just…you've given it quite a few tries and it doesn't seem to be working out." She continued gently. "I mean, you haven't outright asked her, so I guess there's some hope there, but if she's still unresponsive after that, I don't think you've got much of a chance here."

"I can't help but agree." Tokoyami put in. "At a certain point, you'll want to refrain from harassment."

Harassment. That word stung. "Well, it's not like I'm trying to harass her, I just…I mean, I'd like an answer, is all."

"Sometimes no answer is an answer." Shinso shifted in his spot, tilting his head so he could look at Kaminari. "It doesn't necessarily mean she'd never go out with you, but if she's not responding, she's clearly not picking up on your signals."

A slow understanding of Tsuyu's initial point shifted the energy in the room. More people realized where Kaminari stood in this situation with Shiozaki, and though they felt for him, the agreement that he should stop everything at this point changed their collective perspective on giving him advice.

Jiro kept her eyes fixed on her guitar, deciding not to get involved. An easy decision to make, really. After all, she had absolutely no stake in who Kaminari asked to the gala. It's not like it mattered to her one way or the other. Best to leave this up to their classmates, who definitely cared about his dating antics way more than she did.

"So I should try harder?" Kaminari blinked, obviously not at all reading the room.

How in the barnacles is that what he got out of this advice?!

"Uh, how about the opposite of that?" So much for not getting involved, Jiro grumbled internally. From the corner of the room, Yaoyorozu eyed her friend worriedly.

Kaminari stopped, the harshness of her tone startling him. Did he do something to piss her off again? What had he said in the last few minutes?

"Uh, hey guys?" Sato emerged from the kitchen, cutting off the conversation. "What's that banner hanging above the door outside?"

Everyone in the room frowned.

"The what?" Mina asked after a moment.

Sato pointed to the door. "There's like, some sort of white sign or tarp hanging in front of the door on the porch."

"Whoa, check this out!"

Mineta barreled toward the window facing the porch, frantically pointing down the pathway. Immediately, everyone in the room scrambled up behind him, clustering themselves against the windows, scanning the environment to decipher what all the fuss was about.

A trail of lighted candles lined either side of the walkway, complemented by strings of fairy lanterns strewn across the bushes. Upon closer inspection, the students made out an array of purple flower petals scattered down the bricks of the path, all leading up to some sort of tarp taped to either side of the railing right in front of the door to the dorms. From behind, no one could tell what exactly was on the massive sheet, though most everyone had a confident guess about it.

"Who the heck took the time to do all this?" Jiro exclaimed, her jaw practically on the floor.

Kaminari nodded in agreement. "Yeah, and how did we not notice?"

"Is this decorum allowed on school property?" Iida's head whipped around in search of the school handbook. "Whoever did this, I hope they got approval through the correct channels! This could be a serious fire hazard if–"

"Settle down, class rep." Uraraka giggled and patted his shoulder. "I'm sure it's only a temporary setup."

"Temporary, but so romantic!" Hagakure cooed.

Still stiff, Iida pushed his glasses up his nose and nodded. "Very well. I'll allow this another thirty minutes, then–"

"Look, someone's coming!" Tsuyu pointed out.

Immediately, they pressed their faces to the window, eager to see who in their class created such a dazzling display.

"No way!" Deku's jaw dropped once he stepped into view.

None other than their good buddy, Sero, approached the walkway, having changed out of his school uniform and into a lavender button down overlaid by a black vest. Cautiously, he made his way forward, his smile doing a barely decent job at masking his nervousness.

Behind him, a girl in a cream colored dress took careful steps forward, her eyes covered by a blue blindfold. He seemed to be guiding her, gently pulling her by her wrists toward the dorms. At one point he grabbed her hands, his face flushing at the contact, and led her the rest of the way. Once they'd reached the center of the path, he let his hands fall, though she'd clearly been instructed to keep her blindfold on. Quickly, Sero adjusted his button-down, then jogged up to the porch, stopping just in front of the sign. Apparently a bouquet had rested underneath it, something Sero snatched up before calling out to the girl at the edge of the walkway.

The instant she took off the blindfold, Yaoyorozu gasped.

"That's Tokage!" She exclaimed.

Sure enough, the girl from class B's face registered to all of them now that they could actually see her. Her hair fell around her shoulders in mossy green waves that appeared darker under the sunset, making it harder to actually discern their true color at first. But it was undeniably her, Setsuna Tokage, one of the class B recommendation students, standing before their dorm and staring wide-eyed at Sero.

"Oh, that makes sense!" Kaminari seemed to only now be putting certain pieces together. "I wondered who that sneaky bastard kept texting day and night! Holy crap, dude!"

"Not to mention they've been walking together to and from gala practice a lot." Deku pointed out. "Oh man, how did we not catch this earlier?"

"No fair." Mineta clenched his teeth, balling his fists while staring outside. "How dare he actually succeed while me and Kaminari are failing so miserably? This is a personal affront, goddamn it!"

Kaminari eyed his friend a little concernedly. "You, uh, you good, man?"

He did not receive an answer outside of sputtering, slightly unhinged grunting. One of these days, Aizawa needs to ban Mineta from having reactions. Period.

Todoroki pensively stroked his chin, observing the scene before him. "This must be the girl he went on a date with not too long ago. That dress is the same style, despite being a different color, and that girl looks to be around the same height as whoever he walked off with that day."

Everyone froze.

"Wait a second, a date?!" Kaminari whipped his gaze to Todoroki amidst a few gasps. "Why didn't you tell anybody about that?!"

"Yeah, man, if we're not gonna get some of our own, the least we deserve are all the juicy deets on other people's conquests!" Mineta echoed Kaminari's flabbergasted tone.

Jiro and Tsuyu exchanged a cringe.

"I could throw him." Tsuyu offered quietly, nudging Jiro. "Like seriously, you break the window, I'll throw him out of it. Deal?"

"If Sero weren't having a moment outside, I'd so take you up on that." Jiro muttered back.

"Huh?" Todoroki blinked at Kaminari. "Oh, Sero told me he was attending a study session. I figured out that he was on a date, but nobody asked where he went so I didn't think I'd need to say anything."

Outraged, Kaminari's jaw dropped. "Are you kidding me? That's the first thing you tell people the second you figure it out!"

"It is?" Shit, just when Todoroki thought he'd gotten the hang of socializing.

"No, it's not!" Uraraka grabbed Todoroki's arm. "Todoroki, you did the right thing. Don't listen to Kaminari on this."

Jiro snorted. "Don't listen to Kaminari, ever."

"Ever?" Todoroki grew more confused by the second.

Kaminari gasped. "That's not true! I'm right sometimes!"

"Shh! Pay attention! You guys are totally missing it!" Hagakure hissed, bringing everyone back into the moment.

Tokage stood at the edge of the path, shock all over her face. Her hands covered her mouth, making it difficult to gauge her reaction. Class A held their breaths and exchanged worried glances, anxiously awaiting her response. She'd made herself so hard to read, they had no way of knowing how she felt about this. Did she not like what Sero had put together? Did she not like Sero? What was about to happen?

Then, all at once, she scurried across the flower petals, speeding toward Sero as fast as she could while still maintaining her composure. Sero took a couple steps off the porch to meet her close to the middle, nervously holding up the bouquet. Tokage didn't accept it. Didn't acknowledge a single aspect of their surroundings. In fact, she didn't look focused on anything other than Sero himself, who asked her something as she approached him.

She gave no response. Rather, the second she reached him, she slid her arms up Sero's chest, linking her hands together behind his neck. Fingers entangling in his hair, she drew his face to hers in a firm, decisive kiss.

"YEAH!" Kirishima roared above the burst of applause the class broke into, cheers erupting across the room.

"Whoa! Alright, Sero!" Sato exclaimed.

"He did it!" Tsuyu squealed, squeezing Tokoyami's arm.

The noise caught the kissing couple's attention. Startled, Sero pulled away from Tokage and turned towards the window. At the sight of his friends, his face heated up while Tokage giggled and covered her face.

"Oh my God, you guys!" Jiro grabbed Kirishima's shoulder and held a finger to her lips. "We're ruining the moment, quiet down!"

Embarrassment washed over them collectively. They knew they had the right to be excited, but they also knew they needed to not act up (even while watching their classmate experience his first kiss.) As the noise died out, Sero said something to Tokage, an apologetic smile on his face. She shook her head, grinning, her body language indicating everything was alright. They stared into each other's eyes before kissing again, softer this time, already more at ease with one another.

This time, the class controlled their reactions, settling for gasps and dreamy sighs. Hagakure inconspicuously pulled her phone out and snapped a few pics, ensuring she caught the best angles from her vantage point.

"Sero and Tokage will def thank me for this later." She tilted her screen to show Ojiro, whose chin rested on her shoulder as he spooned her waist. "Ugh, look at them! They're so cute!"

"Absolutely adorable." Ojiro commented, pressing his lips to the crook of her neck.

"Alright, everyone!" Iida, who up until now had enjoyed the presentation in supportive silence, stepped forward to take charge of the situation. "It's clear our peers are having a moment, and we would be remiss to intrude upon their relationship this way. Let's vacate the windows and return to our previous activities at once!"

"Aw, but I wanna see what she says!" Kaminari protested.

"What do you mean?" Jiro half chuckled. "She…she so obviously told him yes. I don't know what specifically he asked her but…it's pretty clear she's down for it."

Kaminari groaned, impatience fueling him. "How do you know, though? Did you see her say anything? All she did was kiss him!"

"Do you…how much more does she need to do?" Uraraka tilted her head. "I mean, a kiss is pretty definitive, isn't it?"

"Yeah, seriously." Jiro pointed to Uraraka, who had made her point for her. "Thank you, Uraraka."

"I guess, it's just…how are you so sure? Just because they kissed?" Kaminari stared back outside, taking in the scene between Sero and Tokage.

"It's not just about kissing, dude." Jiro stepped a little closer to him as their classmates dispersed around them. "It's…the way she looked at him."

Kaminari frowned. "You mean that thing she did with her eyes?"

Growing impatient, Jiro gritted her teeth. "Sort of. More like, the emotions behind it. The obvious shock and…you know, excitement. It's like you could tell she just realized her crush liked her back."

Come on, what about that couldn't Kaminari understand? And why was the fact that he didn't bothering Jiro so much? She knew guys didn't pick up on hints to save their lives, especially not Kaminari. This shouldn't be a surprise.

"Hmm." Kaminari stroked his chin, pondering this. "I guess that makes sense. It's just crazy that you figured out all that without her saying or doing much. Like, did you feel it in your earphone jacks or something?"

How would she even have done that? Get a grip, dude. "Well, no. Like I said, stuff like that's obvious. At least, when you're paying attention."

Maybe it was immature of her to jab at him directly. After all, she didn't want to full on insult him, no matter how much he deserved it. Still, the point needed to come across somehow. She tended to make her jokes pretty obvious; in this instance, the overtness covered her tone so clearly, Kaminari had to pick up on her essentially telling him to pay some fucking attention to the world around him. Yet still, the blond boy furrowed his brow, looking more confused than ever.

"Paying attention to what?" He asked.

For fuck's sake.

"Oh my God, to how people feel about one another, you moron!" Finally, Jiro snapped. "Can you open your eyes for like, two seconds?!"

A few people glanced over at the two of them, Jiro's outburst catching their attention. Quickly, she clamped a hand over her mouth. Why did she yell like that? And why did it come out so loud?

"Whoa." Kaminari took a step toward her, concern on his face. "Did…are you okay?"

"Ugh, what does it look like, dipshit? I'm great, obviously!" Sarcasm spewed from her mouth before she could stop it. Christ, just pack it up already, Jiro, this is embarrassing. Her antics had already drawn a small crowd, though her classmates did her a solid by pretending to be occupied with literally anything else.

Kaminari paid no mind to her viciousness, the worry in his eyes only doubling. Fucking hell, why did he have to be concerned, of all things? It would be so much easier for both of them if he just threw some jabs back at her or yelled at her to quit messing with him.

"Jiro, you don't look so great. What's wrong?" He reached out to touch her, stopping only when one of her earphone jacks trembled threateningly in front of his nose.

"What?" Her face reddened, and weirdly enough, she felt her eyes start to water just a bit. "I just insulted you, why are you being nice?"

And why did it piss her off so much?

"I mean, you call me a moron like, everyday, bro." Kaminari shrugged, smiling sheepishly. "But you're usually not yelling, or…wait, are you crying?"

No. Stop noticing things. God, just walk away. How could he be so stupid and so attentive all at once? It made her feel…something she couldn't quite place. Something she realized she didn't want to deal with.

"I-I'm fine." She turned away from him slightly, keeping one hand over her mouth.

"You sure? You're being weird." He reached out and rested a hand on her arm. "Come on, you can talk to me. What's up?"

Instinctively, she jerked out of his grasp. Tears fully sprang to her eyes now. Jesus, what is going on? Why is she freaking out all of a sudden?

"Jiro?" Yaoyorozu's voice cut through the tense silence.

"I'm fine, just leave me alone!"

Before anyone stopped her again, she bolted from the room and disappeared into the elevator, well aware of all the eyes watching her leave. Whatever, she'd address it later. Right now, she needed to hole up in her room and…she didn't know, do something.

Kaminari stared after Jiro, sputtering.

"Was that…did I do something?" He turned to Yaoyorozu, dumbfounded.

Yaoyorozu's eyes nervously flitted between Kaminari and the elevator doors. Biting her lip, she turned to him and patted his shoulder.

"Give her a minute." She assured him. "She's just…having a hard time."

"With what?" Kaminari pressed. If something affected Jiro this badly, he needed to know. He wasn't sure why he did, but…it bothered him.

"Stress, I think." Yaoyorozu did her best to cover for her friend. She'd sussed out exactly what sparked this breakdown, and she suspected everyone else in the room had, too. But it wasn't her or anyone else's place to explain it to Kaminari. "Again, just give her some space. She'll be alright."

That certainly didn't feel alright. He'd check up on her later, he decided against his better judgment. His body wanted to run after her that instant, but he held back, knowing he'd just be met with more resistance.

"Wow, I think that's the first official gala-posal!" Kirishima proclaimed exuberantly, clearly trying to lighten the mood.

"I know, right?" Mina squealed. "Please tell me someone got that on video!"

"Oh, yeah!" Kirishima turned to her excitedly. "Hey, maybe we can check the security footage if nothing else!"

"Totally!" Mina perked up at his suggestion.

The two looked at each other for a second, sharing in their enthusiasm, then all of a sudden, their faces dropped. Blushing, they both looked away from each other, keeping their gazes on the floor. Kaminari frowned. Now why were they acting weird?

"You guys okay?" He asked.

"We're fine." Kirishima replied sadly.

"It's nothing." Mina stammered quietly at the same time.

Their energy definitely didn't feel like nothing. Seriously, what was happening to everyone? Why did Kaminari feel like the only one in the group not wilting or something? Well, aside from Sero, who was actively getting made out with just outside the door. Screw him for that.

XxXxXxX

Try as she might, not a single name came to mind.

To be honest, it almost frustrated her to the point of tears. A simple name, a solid period of time, hell, at this point, just remembering what she looked like would quell Yaoyorozu's rising irritation with herself. Had her memory always been this full of gaps? Since when did she have this much trouble retaining information?

"Hey, are you good?"

Jiro nudged her with her foot. Yaoyorozu blinked, startled, turning to face her friend from the floor.

"I'm…sorry, did you–were you saying something?"

Sighing, Jiro half nodded. "Not anything important, though."

"Are you sure?" Guilt washed over Yaoyorozu. She internally chastised herself for ignoring Jiro, who was obviously going through a lot.

"Positive." Jiro adjusted herself on her bed. "What's going on with you? You've been…quiet for a while."

"We don't have to talk about it." Yaoyorozu assured her, sitting so she fully faced her. "I came here to make sure you're okay."

Jiro grimaced. When Yaoyorozu knocked on her door, she'd let her in, they made some small talk about homework and settled down in their respective spots. So far, neither of them had brought up Jiro's reaction from earlier, and the longer Yaoyorozu sat on the floor of Jiro's room, the more apparent it became that neither one of them was going to.

"I'm fine." She replied through slightly gritted teeth. "Let's talk about you, please."

Typical Jiro. Something goes wrong, she suppresses it immediately. No conversation, no processing, just pure, fierce denial. If Yaoyorozu pushed, she'd likely just annoy Jiro, and while her friend definitely needed to deal with some things, now didn't seem like the time to acknowledge that. Plus, selfish as it felt to admit it, Yaoyorozu was having issues of her own.

"Okay, if you're alright with it." Yaoyorozu sighed. "Something is bothering me, and…I'm not sure what to do."

Jiro nodded for her to go on. Yaoyorozu tightened her robe around herself, taking a deep breath.

"Well, not too long ago, I remembered that I learned to cook from a nanny and her daughter that my family employed a while back. I thought I revered her more fondly as a child, but when I actually stopped and thought about it, I realized…I don't have the faintest idea of her name."

The wistfulness in Yaoyorozu's tone caught Jiro's attention. Yaoyorozu took a breath to go on, but the words got caught in her throat for a second. Weird. What's gotten her so emotional?

"Her or her daughter." She went on sadly. "And then, that day in the locker room, you girls asked me why I chose the career path I did. I stand by what I said, about it suiting my ideals and personality, but truth be told, I can't remember what set me down this road for the life of me. There's no moment that comes to mind, no standout incident where I distinctly remember standing up and deciding, even to myself, that I wanted to become a hero."

Now came the tears. Startled, Jiro scrambled from her bed to the floor, wrapping her arms around her friend quickly.

"Oh, God, what's wrong, Yaomomo?" She sounded so worried, Yaoyorozu felt another pang of guilt.

"It's…it's not even anything, I don't know why I'm so…so…"

Clamping a hand over her mouth, she let herself register just how much all of this got to her.

"I just want to know why I can't…remember…." Her shoulders shook from withholding sobs. "There's so much, you know? Different employees over the years, all the events I've been to, everything just feels so…vague, like a dream, or something that happened through a fog, and I want so badly to know, but I just…I can't…."

Jiro squeezed her tightly. Though Yaoyorozu stood about a head taller than Jiro, she found a way to pull her head down to her petite shoulder, patting her long, black hair comfortingly. Yaoyorozu hesitated, then let herself lean into Jiro's embrace, quiet sobs muffling against her gray and black striped sweater.

"I wish I could help." Jiro murmured to her. "If I'd been there for all the horseback lessons and croquet or whatever, I'd remind you of every single detail, I promise."

A small giggle vibrated through her shoulder. Good. That cheered her up, if only for a moment.

"You're already more help than my mother was." Pulling away, Yaoyorozu quickly created a handkerchief with the palm of her hand to dab her nose with. "I asked her for my old nanny's name and she didn't even apologize for not knowing, just reminded me how much staff we employ and change every year. I suppose I don't blame her, but–"

"But that sucks." Jiro finished for her. "That's like, a super valid thing to be upset about, Yaomomo."

Hearing that lifted a weight off Yaoyorozu's shoulders. Yes. These feelings weren't irrational. Someone told her she had the right to be crying about this.

"So you…don't remember anything?" Jiro asked tentatively after a moment. It felt odd, hearing the smartest person in their class (and quite possibly in the whole school) talking about how irregular her memory was.

"There's bits and pieces." Yaoyorozu explained, wiping her eyes. "Things like knowing there was a nanny, but not her name. I went to a formal event when I was ten, but I don't remember what happened…other than something I cried about, I suppose. Strange things like that. Almost as if I'm watching someone else live these moments."

"Hmm." Jiro chewed her lip in thought. "That's super weird. Not that you're weird or anything, just…I don't know why something like that would be happening to you."

"I don't find it weird so much as…bothersome." Yaoyorozu gripped the hem of her robe, somewhat anxious. "I can't help but wonder why I haven't questioned anything until now. None of this even fell on my radar until recently. But now that it's on my mind, I can't just ignore it."

Patting her back, Jiro nodded encouragingly. "Maybe we can set something up with the school counselor? Or better yet, ask your parents about maybe getting some sort of…therapy? I don't know, this just doesn't feel like something you should deal with on your own."

Yaoyorozu cringed at the word 'therapy.'

"That won't help." She shook her head dismissively. "I learned that from my mother. She always told me if you take care of your body, the mind will follow. No need for all the gimmicky pills or…whatever they give you when you're upset, I guess."

Huh. Well, that's a unique perspective, Jiro thought awkwardly. Since when did her friend dismiss mental health matters so easily?

"Well, that's not all therapy is, you know." Jiro sat back a bit. "I mean, there's lots of different ways psychiatrists can help you, and not all of them involve pills or whatever. If that's the part that makes you uncomfortable, you can always avoid it and do something like CBT. I've heard good things about hypnosis, too, but that kind of stuff weirds me out."

Curious, Yaoyorozu tilted her head towards her friend. "How do you know so much about this?"

"My mom." Jiro let out a bashful chuckle. "She's kind of a psychology nerd. Weird enough, she actually always taught me the opposite of what your mom said."

"What do you mean?" Yaoyorozu perked up, intrigued.

Dropping back fully, Jiro wrapped her arms behind her knees.

"You're the one who has to live in your mind." She said after a moment. "And you deserve a nice place to live. That's how she explained it to me when I was little. She made it make sense, which was awesome, and I think that showed little me that I need to take care of myself mentally. Now, if I'm ever feeling shitty, I just tell myself it's time to repaint the walls or get new furniture or something. It's weird, but it helps me, I guess. I don't know."

"Repaint…your mind? What does that look like for you?" Yaoyorozu pictured herself shifting armchairs around in a space that resembled her dorm room. Did that improve her mind at all? It didn't feel that way. Maybe she needed to try it a few times for it to kick in.

Jiro knew her friend well enough to guess exactly where her brain took that imagery. Snorting, she rocked forward and crossed her legs.

"Not literally, Yaomomo." She paused, mulling over her explanation. "I just mean, like, I'll paint my nails or write a song or go for a run. Stuff that comforts me, just changing up the pace a little. Gotta work for that dopamine hit, you know?"

Ignoring the joke, everything she said made sense in theory. Seeing it in practice, however, Yaoyorozu had to wonder if Jiro's mentality truly held up. Given how off she'd been acting, Yaoyorozu couldn't help but have her doubts.

"How's that been working for you lately?" It was her turn to be tentative, walking on eggshells when she spoke.

Jiro's exhale deflated her whole body. The weight of what she knew her friend was asking pressed down on her chest, thoughts she'd worked extremely hard to suppress trickling into her brain. How had that been working out for her? Not well, point blank.

"Lately?" Jiro finally answered nervously. "It's…been fine. I'm just pretty stressed with…you know, everything. Nothing new."

Yaoyorozu opened her mouth, wanting to bring up the subject both of them knew Jiro was dancing around. As it stood, however, she found herself too tired to have the stamina for it. So instead, she reached for Jiro's hand and squeezed it.

"Everything's gonna work out, Kyoka. I know it."

Jiro's eyes widened briefly, but she didn't respond other than gently squeezing Yaoyorozu's hand back. The conversation fizzled out after that, both of them having exhausted enough energy. Jiro plucked at her bass, Yaoyorozu eventually cracked open a book from her bag, and the two sat in comfortable semi-silence, marinating on everything they'd talked about in the past half hour.

XxXxXxX

"This is fucking bullshit!"

Bakugo slammed a vase into the ground, crunching it with his bare hand for good measure. Deku's eyes bulged at the sight of the cracks of blood leaking all over his friend's hand from the impact, but Bakugo remained unbothered, already searching the room for something else to throw.

"When's somebody gonna tell us something, huh?!" He whirled on All Might, his eyes ferocious and accusatory. "Call Tsukauchi, now!"

"Bakugo, that's not going to help anything." Todoroki's voice remained cold and distant despite the concern on his face. "Just like damaging school property isn't going to bring Camie back. We need to be patient and wait for the police to get in touch with us."

The blond's chest heaved as he sucked in a startled, angry breath. "Don't you even go there, scar face, I'll blast you to Hell before I–"

"I just don't understand what's taking so long." All Might, now used to Bakugo's tantrums, stared down at his phone bewilderedly. "Usually, they're much more on top of things."

"Maybe this is more top secret than they can let on." Deku pondered. "With two missing people on the line, I wouldn't be surprised."

That made sense, but even under those circumstances, All Might at least got a text back stating certain information had become classified. And truthfully, he often was made privy to things he really shouldn't have whether or not they needed to be kept under wraps. Perks of being the former number one hero.

"I would have at least expected them to get in touch with Bakugo by now." All Might turned to the fuming blond, who now growled incoherently in Todoroki's expressionless face. "I let Tsukauchi know their specific relationship. You'd think that would be something to—"

"A PHONE CALL IS HERE! A PHONE CALL IS HERE! A PHONE–"

"Agh!" The phone nearly clattered out of All Might's hands in his jolt of surprise. He caught it, though, boring down on the contact name.

In the background, Bakugo ceased, watching All Might answer his phone with all the still silence of a deer being hunted.

"Endeavor? This is a surprise." All Might shot Todoroki a questioning look. At the sound of his father's hero name, Todoroki's face darkened, and he gave All Might no indication that he knew what this was about.

"All Might." Endeavor's tone didn't imply a greeting, instead dripping with cold distaste. "Have you heard from the police at all about young Watanabe or Utsushimi?"

"I haven't." All Might replied. "Do you know something?"

The boys perked up.

"I see." All Might heard him sigh defeatedly. "Have they briefed you on the existence of erythroglass?"

All Might tensed. He knew the boys couldn't hear Endeavor despite how closely they listened, but he didn't want to take chances. Before they protested, he shot Deku a 'don't follow me' look and hurriedly stepped out the door, making his way to the empty classroom he'd spoken with Tsukauchi in.

"Sorry for the pause." He replied once the door closed behind him. "I need to keep this conversation quiet. But yes, I am aware of…that. What do you know about it?"

"I've done some of my own investigating with the little information that's been made available to me."

Now he sounded a bit boastful; he seemed to enjoy that they'd told him more than All Might about the case. Whatever, as long as he'd finally get some sort of update, All Might didn't particularly care. That much.

"Oh?" All Might tried not to grit his teeth. "What have you found?"

"Are you familiar with the Hyakusekai Syndicate?"

'Syndicate' implied Yakuza. A corner of society All Might dealt with pretty rarely in his career. His hero work usually stayed reserved for triumphant, glamorous saves that drew big crowds and saved countless lives. Yakuza matters didn't often get thrown his way, their dealings having been deemed "too gritty" for his image. It never sat right with him, but to some degree, he did need to listen to his publicists.

Endeavor's career went in a different direction. Nobody saw him as a pure, forever smiling symbol of peace. His involvement in darker, underground matters didn't soil any sort of image he'd cultivated. In fact, people revered him more for being willing to roll up his sleeves and get his hands dirty. This gave him access to a world of fighting knowledge that All Might would never know.

That bothered him more than the lack of information, at this point.

"I'm not." He replied after a moment.

"They're a small Yakuza syndicate, despite their name." Endeavor explained. "There's barely anything to go off of with them. They remain deep in the shadows, just under law enforcement's radar. Their numbers and origins are a mystery. They've only ever come close to being busted one time, back in the nineties. Around the time erythroglass first started surfacing."

All Might's heartbeat quickened. This felt like a solid lead, if Endeavor was implying what All Might thought.

"What happened?"

"All I really know about is a shoot out." Endeavor sighed. "Even that's a bit questionable. Two men went down, a policeman, whose blood taught us about the existence of the glass, and one of theirs. A young one, someone whose body they quickly gathered and removed from police view the second he fell. His identity remains a mystery to this day, despite the collection of DNA evidence."

"Why are you telling me this?" The images running through All Might's head made him grip the teacher's desk at the front of the class for support.

"To emphasize that we have no earthly idea who has ties to this syndicate." Endeavor's tone grew more urgent. "But this Nagase girl has been bugging me. Not only can they not find her, there's so little information about her, it's appalling. I've tried to ask Tsukauchi for any sort of lead, see if there's a way I can help, but he's not returning my calls and hasn't given me a straight answer in weeks."

"Join the club." All Might muttered bitterly. "Quite frankly, I think you know more than I do at this point."

"I gathered this intel of my own accord." Endeavor sounded hesitant to admit that. "It's troublesome to see young heroes just entering the workforce being targeted. If there's any sort of threat to the next generation, we need to do what we can to neutralize it now."

'Before young Todoroki graduates.'

It finally clicked for All Might. Endeavor may be grandiose about his findings, and arrogant in relaying them, but this case mattered to him for understandable, extremely personal reasons. Hearing it from that angle, he couldn't help but consider Deku in the same light; both of these young men had grown into fine young prospective heroes, perfectly capable of holding their own. However, they're still kids at the end of the day. One rookie mistake might cost them their life, something neither Endeavor nor All Might prepared themselves to deal with. The very thought of erythroglass getting within ten feet of Deku shot fear straight through him.

"You're absolutely correct." All Might's grip on the desk tightened, this time from determination. "Rest assured, Endeavor, we will get to the bottom of this. I thank you for your intel. I'm going to use it to see if I can further this case and keep you updated. All I ask is you do the same. Sound like a deal?"

Even through the phone, All Might could feel Endeavor's agreement. They'd fallen on the same unspoken wavelength. It spread relief through him, especially knowing some headway seemed to have been made through this conversation. If nothing else, establishing a line of communication between the two of them might prove to be beneficial eventually.

"Deal. Oh, and could I ask a favor?"

"Certainly." All Might shrugged.

"Please ask Shoto to call me."

That felt much more like a choice for young Todoroki to make. And really, he didn't want to get involved in this vicious family drama. Given what he knew of Endeavor, however, All Might figured it wouldn't hurt to at least pass along the request and let Todoroki decide from there.

"I will. Thank you, Endeavor."

"Thank you, All Might." It sounded like the number one hero's shoulders finally relaxed. "I'll be in touch. Take care."

"You, too."

The call ended with All Might feeling a rush of strange hope. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but it felt as if this were more of a breakthrough than he or Endeavor realized. The pieces didn't all fit together just yet, but something was falling into place.