What was supposed to be a nice dinner date had quickly turned into an awkward, third wheel situation.
Surprisingly enough for Midoriya and Jirou, they had largely been uninterrupted when they planned to have dinner together, save for the occasional 'hello' from one of their classmates. Never before had someone asked to join them together for dinner. And much to the ire of Jirou, it was Uraraka of all people that had decided to burst their bubble that evening.
The couple stood still for a few moments as they processed the situation before them. Jirou could sense that Midoriya was waiting for her to say something - anything, really.
"Sure, why not, Uraraka?" Jirou said, catching Midoriya wince from her peripheral vision.
"Yay!" Uraraka cheered.
Once all of them had their plates together - it was a chicken and rice curry dish that had already been prepared by the staff - the three of them sat together at the table in the dining room area. Uraraka dug into her food right away, followed by Midoriya, while Jirou took an extra minute to mentally prepare herself for the meal ahead.
"Mmm, this curry is so good!" Uraraka said.
Jirou narrowed her eyes. Even if Uraraka had a much more bubbly personality than her, the tone Uraraka used sounded forced to her.
"So Uraraka, any reason you wanted to have dinner with us tonight?" Midoriya asked.
Uraraka nearly choked on her food upon hearing the question he had asked. Again, something about her mannerisms seemed odd to Jirou.
"Well, you two were getting ready to have dinner right when I was about to start, and we're all good friends... so, why not?" Uraraka asked, her last question sounding more defensive.
"Oh, not that I was complaining!" Midoriya clarified. "I think it's great we're doing this. I'm just surprised we haven't done this sooner."
Uraraka looked down at her plate. "Well, you two do like to go off on your own a lot, so I guess we haven't had many chances to do so."
Despite wanting to tell Uraraka off, Jirou managed to continue eating her food, trying her best to keep her nerves and annoyance in check. She felt bad that Midoriya was the one doing all of the talking, but she was unable to think of anything constructive to say.
Neither was Midoriya at that point, evidently. Rather than retorting what Uraraka claimed, he too stuffed his mouth with more curry, although Jirou could tell the nerves were kicking in for him as well.
"Although I will say you two have been around more often recently," Uraraka then added.
"What kind of mental gymnastics are we playing here?" Jirou thought to herself.
"Alright, that's enough. What's the point you're trying to get at?" Jirou asked Uraraka, using the most intense but non-aggressive tone she could manage.
Uraraka had another bite of curry without saying another word. Now the nerves were reaching the peak for the trio in the room together.
"Deku, Jirou, I want you to be honest with me about something," Uraraka said.
Midoriya gulped. Jirou gritted her teeth.
"Are you two in a relationship together?" Uraraka finally asked.
There was the question that they had both dreaded to hear for the longest time.
Turning to one another, however, Midoriya and Jirou made eye contact, and nodded simultaneously. It was like they had communicated exactly what they wanted to say without uttering a single word.
"Before you answer, there's a reason I'm asking about this. I'm not trying to embarrass you, I promise," Uraraka said in a much calmer and serious tone.
Jirou winced. She knew what the reason was. Midoriya, on the other hand? Probably not.
"Yes, we are in a relationship," Midoriya finally answered.
Even if she did not change her expression, Jirou was proud of Midoriya for being so forward. She knew how awkward it must have been for him specifically given how close he was to Uraraka compared to her.
Uraraka, on the other hand, was frozen. Not even a sad, angry, or disappointed look could have been deciphered from her facial expression.
Finally, she began to say something.
"...Congratulations! I'm very happy for you, Deku and Jirou," Uraraka said.
That was not at all what Jirou was expecting to hear. Maybe she had been overthinking how this conversation would have gone the whole time.
"Look, I know admitting that must be hard, I get it. And well... I kinda suspected you were together anyways. But like I said, there's a reason why I'm doing this," Uraraka continued.
"Oh shit, here we go," Jirou thought.
"The whole class thinks you two are dating and are planning to make you admit it tomorrow," Uraraka finished.
"…What?!" Jirou yelled.
"Yeah... and it's Yaoyorozu's idea, too," Uraraka added.
All of the nerves that Jirou and Midoriya had been feeling earlier had evaporated. For Jirou specifically, she was pissed.
"What on… why would Yaomomo do something like that?" Jirou asked, tapping her fingers on the table.
To Jirou's surprise, however, Uraraka remained quiet. She finished the last of her dinner and then cleaned up her dishes and napkins.
Just as Uraraka was about to leave the dining room, however, she turned back and looked towards Jirou and Midoriya.
"That's not for me to say. But, I wanted to warn you that everyone's figured it out. Now it's up to you to decide where to go from here. See you later," Uraraka said in the most monotone voice either of them had ever heard.
With Uraraka now departed, and no one else in sight to enter the room, Midoriya and Jirou looked at one another with blank expressions. They were equally stunned. Never did they think that the conversation would go in that direction.
"Now what?" Midoriya said.
Jirou collected her thoughts for a few moments. This was not going to be fun.
"We just have to stick to our plan. Let's have them figure it out. We aren't hiding it anymore, so if they ask, then they'll know. Deal?" Jirou asked.
"Deal," Midoriya said, as the two of them embraced, finally feeling some comfort.
"Aizawa? You're here?" Kirashima asked.
"Of course. I'm being paid to help you all set everything up for tomorrow's Cultural Festival," Aizawa said.
Even though it was rather surprising to see Aizawa there to help them, it was not so surprising that he was the only one wearing their usual school attire. All 20 students in Class 1A had changed from their school uniforms to their casual clothes, happy to be done with classes for the day, but eager to get ready for the Cultural Festival.
Given that they were doing a talent show, the school assigned Class 1A to one of the school's auditoriums. It was set up with a stage with a polished wood floor, a black curtain as the background, a red curtain in front of the stage, and a bowl of seats that elevated progressively with each row. Many members of the class got even more excited when they saw how professional the setup was. Many of them figured that their talent show would feel much more like an official show you would see at a venue.
Seeing the setup immediately made Jirou think of the concert venues that she had attended all around the world. To think that her and Midoriya's duet would be in this atmosphere made her all the more eager for tomorrow to come.
"Alright, use all of the time you need to get ready for tomorrow. Use your time efficiently, just like you should do when you are a hero in the future. If you need any help, let me know. Otherwise, I'm walking around the auditorium to inspect it," Aizawa said, with the entirety of the class nodding in understanding.
With Aizawa's introduction now out of the way, the entire class got to work immediately. Some of the students moved to the seating area, while others went behind the stage to get to work.
Midoriya and Jirou were among those who went behind the stage. The two of them found an unoccupied corner to sit by and they got to work.
Jirou opened up a larger case that she had hauled over from her room after classes. Midoriya, meanwhile, placed both of their bass cases down next to Jirou's case. All of the equipment that Jirou removed from her case absolutely confused Midoriya. He had never seen any of the items before, besides the two microphones that she pulled out of the case last.
"Kyouka, what is… all of that stuff?" Midoriya asked.
"A microphone. You sing into it so everyone can hear you," Jirou smirked.
Midoriya chuckled at her sarcastic remark. Microphones were the one thing he did not need any clarification for.
"Honestly, this is some more advanced stuff. It's all audio equipment so that we sound better in here," Jirou explained. "My parents taught me how to set this all up awhile ago, but it took a long time for me to figure it out. I'm going to set this all up. Can you make sure our basses are tuned and ready to go for tomorrow?"
"Sure," Midoriya said.
"Also, if you have any ideas for a background, feel free to make one!" Jirou added.
"I'll see what I can do!" Midoriya said.
As Jirou tested the microphones and set up the speakers, Midoriya opened both of their bass cases. It was a quick process to tune both basses and ensure that they were ready to be played tomorrow. Once he was done, he could tell that Jirou still had a lot of work ahead to get their audio equipment ready. As badly as he wanted to help her out, he would be the first to admit he had no clue how to help, so he decided to look into a possible background for their performance.
Fortunately for Midoriya, there were several large canvas in the backstage area that were black. He then saw gallons of paint next to the canvas.
"Well, looks like I'm going to be an artist," Midoriya joked to himself.
He pulled one of the black canvas away from the area, followed by grabbing a green and purple gallon of paint. Before he could go any further, however, another member of the class with his signature purple look stopped him in his tracks.
"Yo Midoriya, what's up?" Mineta said.
"I'm making a canvas for the background of my performance. How about you?" Midoriya asked.
"I don't need to set anything up for my performance," Mineta said, with Midoriya not daring to ask him to elaborate any further. "Aren't you doing something with Jirou?"
"Um, yeah, who are you doing your performance with?" Midoriya asked. He began to sweat as he thought about Uraraka's conversation from yesterday.
"Kaminari. Man, must be nice to perform with your girlfriend, huh?" Mineta then said.
Midoriya gulped. He should have known that the conversation was going to go in this direction.
Fortunately, however, he had already made a deflection in his mind for a moment just like this.
"Yeah, it's amazing! Jirou is my girl-friend alright! A really, really good friend that just happens to be a girl!" Midoriya said with a forced chuckle.
Mineta squinted at Midoriya. He was clearly unamused.
"Boy, I hope you aren't doing comedy. Oldest trick in the book, bro," Mineta said.
Even though Midoriya felt disappointed, Mineta walked away from him, clearly not interested in prodding any further.
"Looks like it worked. Now, how am I painting this canvas…" Midoriya said, bouncing his eyes between the canvas and the paint buckets.
While Midoriya began to calm down, Jirou continued to work on their sound system. So far, everything had gone smoothly, but it was a lengthy process to get everything prepared in a proper manner. She was so locked in that she did not even notice Midoriya being heckled by Mineta.
In fact, she was so locked in that she did not even notice that Yaoyorozu had snuck behind her.
"Oh, hello Kyouka."
Jirou jumped, doing a full 180 degree turn as she continued to crouch on the ground. Seeing Yaoyorozu normally was a good thing given how good of friends the two of them were. This time? Not so much.
"Yaomomo," Jirou said. "I'm trying to get this sound system ready. What are you doing?"
"I am using my quirk to set my act up," Yaoyorozu said. "I am taking a break so I do not wear myself down too much."
"Smart thinking. I might need to take a break at this rate," Jirou said.
Yaoyorozu then scanned her eyes around the room, in a way that Jirou thought was more dramatic then necessary.
"Say, are you not doing your act with someone else?" Yaoyorozu asked.
"I am. How about you?"
"I am working with a few other people. So where is Midoriya at?"
Jirou narrowed her eyes at Yaoyorozu. Even though neither of them had said it, they both knew what that comment implied.
"He's making the background for our performance. I don't know where he's at," Jirou replied.
"That must be a first," Yaoyorozu said, with Jirou closing her eyes to calm herself down. "You two really are an item."
The last phrase caused Jirou to break her tense expression and instead give a confused look to Yaoyorozu.
"What exactly does that mean, Yaomomo?" Jirou asked in a genuine tone.
"Well, never mind that. I wish you two the best of luck."
Yaoyorozu walked away from the scene, leaving the backstage area altogether. Jirou, still confused from the conversation, decided to shrug it off and get back to work.
Meanwhile, Yaoyorozu was not shrugging off her conversation. Now that she was back with her group, she began to vent to all of them, as they sat in the seats in the front row of the auditorium.
"Well, I totally flubbed that conversation with Kyouka. I used a phrase that she did not understand and it all got awkward from there," Yaoyorozu pouted.
Asui and Ojiro shrugged at Yaoyorozu over the matter. Hagakure, on the other, was more willing to give a thoughtful answer to Yaoyorozu.
"You're too smart to do this," Hagakure said, causing Yaoyorozu to take offense. "Let the professional do this!"
Hagakure skipped up onto the stage - although you could only see her sweater, lounge pants and shoes - as she went to the backstage area. She surveyed the room to see what the situation was. Once she saw that Jirou was by herself, she continued to skip over to her, stopping right in front of her.
"What do you want, Hagakure?" Jirou asked.
"Oh, so cold!" Hagakure said, as she pretended to shiver by folding her arms. "Listen, can you tell me a secret?"
"…Sure, I guess," Jirou agreed. She could not tell whether Hagakure's pleasant tone was fake or real. Either way, there was no going back now.
"Is Midoriya single?!" Hagakure asked in a hushed tone.
The question prompted Jirou to choke on her breath. Her face turned bright red as she tried - and failed - to keep herself composed. In fact, she got so worked up that she did not even hear the giggles of Hagakure right in front of her. Finally, Jirou calmed down enough to actually give a response.
"I mean… how would I know?" Jirou asked.
"Oh, can it! You hang out with him every single second of the day! Clearly you would know what his relationship status is!" Hagakure countered.
As much as Jirou did not want to admit it, Hagakure did have a good point. It would be very hard for Midoriya or herself to hide anything about their relationship status with how much time they spent together… except for the fact that they were already a couple.
A few of the other students in the backstage area were now watching their conversation. Uraraka, Ilda, Mineta and Kaminari all did a poor job of being 'secretive' about listening in to what they were saying. Midoriya was out of sight, fortunately, so he had no clue about what was currently going on.
Jirou had to think of something quickly. She knew Hagakure would not be an easy person to dance around a conversation with.
"He's not the most romantic person in the world. He never really talks about it. I guess it's not something he's worried about," Jirou said.
"Hmm, well, I really like Midoriya, so I'll go ask him out and see what he says!" Hagakure smirked.
"What, WHAT?!" Jirou nearly screamed. The others who were in earshot of the conversation gasped as well.
"Do you have a problem with that?" Hagakure asked.
Jirou finally stood up. Even though she could not see Hagakure's eyes, she still felt their eye contact, stronger than she would have ever thought was possible.
"Nope. Go ask him out and see what he says," Jirou said.
Hagakure skipped off to find Midoriya. Jirou, on the other hand, berated herself over the conversation.
"Why can't I just be honest about our relationship? I hope Izuku knows what he's doing…" Jirou thought.
It did not take long for Hagakure to find Midoriya. She stood right in front of him, ready to pounce. Even though he was very focused on painting the canvas, Midoriya could just tell that Hagakure was itching to say something crazy.
"Hi Midoriya!" Hagakure said.
"Hey," Midoriya replied.
"Did I ever tell you that you're super hot?" Hagakure said.
Now it was Midoriya that turned bright red over her comment. His thoughts slammed to a stop as he took a few moments to process what he had just heard.
"Um… no?" Midoriya finally managed to answer.
"Let's go out together then! Whaddaya say?" Hagakure said.
Much to Hagakure's surprise, however, the response from Midoriya was immediate.
"Nope."
"What?! No?! Why not?" Hagakure pouted.
"I'm not interested. I gotta get back to work," Midoriya said.
"Hmm, okay. I guess Jirou's happy that you're loyal to her."
As Hagakure walked away, Midoriya gave no further answer. Once she arrived back at the front row of the seats with her group, she slammed into her chair, folding her arms.
"So… how did it go?" Ojiro said.
"Nothing! I called him hot and asked him out and he literally said nothing! That jerk," Hagakure said.
"But you don't actually have any interest in him, do you, ribbit?" Asui asked.
"Of course not, but he was super cold about it. And he said nothing about Jirou, either," Hagakure said.
Yaoyorozu sighed. Getting them to admit that they were a couple was going to take a lot more effort than she thought it would take.
"Oh well. Let's just call it off for now. This is clearly not the time to do it. I'll let everyone know in the group text," Yaoyorozu said.
The rest of the day passed without further incident regarding their relationship being revealed. Jirou successfully set up the sound system for their performance tomorrow, although it took more time than she had anticipated. Midoriya, meanwhile, had created a background that had splatters of green and purple paint on the black canvas - something that Jirou described as 'perfect' for the tone of their song. The two of them did one more practice run of their song that evening, satisfied with how they sounded.
It was now midnight. All that separated the class from the Cultural Festival was one more sleep.
The problem for Midoriya, however, was that sleep was proving to be impossible for him.
Getting on to his phone, Midoriya noticed that Jirou was also awake, as she was active on her social media pages. Without a second thought, Midoriya jumped out of bed, and went up one floor to go to Jirou's room.
Rather than knocking on her door, Midoriya texted Jirou to let him in her room. She did so just seconds later. She turned the lights on, welcoming Midoriya to take her chair as she sat back down in her bed.
"I can't sleep," Midoriya admitted.
"Me neither," Jirou said with a smile.
The two of them stared at each other for a few moments. Both had sleepy eyes, yet both were so energized that they had no desire to sleep.
"I really want to be a hero, but I'd be lying if I said that this didn't make me just as excited," Jirou added.
Midoriya nodded. As excited as he was, he knew that it did not compare to Jirou's excitement. Music was not just something she loved. It was her passion.
"I understand. I can't wait for tomorrow," Midoriya mumbled.
"Izuku, I need to ask you something," Jirou then changed her tone.
"Yeah?"
"Did Hagakure ask you out?"
The question did not completely catch him off guard. He had figured that Jirou was going to find out about it eventually.
"Yeah. I didn't reveal our relationship," Midoriya answered.
Jirou smiled. "Good. I didn't want to have that be the way our relationship was revealed."
"Me neither," Midoriya said.
The two of them got up to embrace one another. As they hugged, they both went in for a prolonged kiss. Even if everyone else tried to prod their way into their business… moments like these were truly their own.
"Well, I'll head back to my room now. See you tomorrow," Midoriya said.
"Yeah, see you tomorrow," Jirou said.
Midoriya then put his hand on her door knob. It was cold to the touch. As much as he was ready to open the door, something stopped him from doing so. He turned back around to look at Jirou.
"Kyouka."
"Izuku?"
Midoriya stayed silent for another moment.
"I love you," Midoriya said.
"I love you too," Jirou said.
Midoriya then left the room. Both of their hearts warmed up as they thought about one another, and as they both thought about what tomorrow would bring.
Tomorrow, it was time for their passions to unite.
A/N: The next chapter will finally dive into the long anticipated Cultural Festival! Will Midoriya and Jirou's duet be successful? What else does the rest of Class 1A have in store? (yes, everyone's performances will be included!)
With that, I have a bittersweet announcement to make - When Our Passions Unite has officially entered it's climatic arc. I plan on posting three more chapters, taking the story to a total of 40 chapters. I have really enjoyed writing this story over the past three and a half (!) years, but we are finally reaching the conclusion of the story.
That being said, three more chapters is still a lot of content (probably around 10,000 words), so please look forward to seeing how the story ends! Even with When Our Passions Unite reaching the final chapters, I've got plenty of more stories in the works, both MHA and non-MHA related.
Thank you for reading, please leave a favorite, follow or comment if you'd like, they are all greatly appreciated! See you next time for Chapter 38 - the Cultural Festival!