For Midoriya and Jirou, it was hard to believe that the Cultural Festival was actually over.
For so many days and for so many sleepless nights, they had put so much effort into creating the best song possible. Heroes was undoubtedly a hit. All of their practice and effort had truly paid off for them.
Any doubts of their success that crept into their heads were instantly washed away by the response they received during the rest of the Cultural Festival. It felt like that everywhere they went, several people would come up to them and praise them for their performance. There was a complete buzz in the room whenever the two of them entered. To everyone in attendance, Midoriya and Jirou were stars.
In fact, they were so caught up in talking to the others, they were among the last people even left by the end of the Cultural Festival. Realizing that it was time to go back to the dorms for the class after-party, the two of them headed back to the auditorium to grab their supplies that they had left in the backstage area. Like before, Midoriya would carry the bass cases, while Jirou would carry the case containing the audio system and microphones.
Before they could leave, however, another person joined them in the backstage area.
"Young Midoriya! Young Jirou!" All Might called out to them.
"All Might? I'm surprised you're still here!" Midoriya said, with Jirou giving a nod in agreement.
"Well, it was more of a circumstantial thing, but I'm glad I ran into both of you. Your song was incredible!" All Might said, giving a thumbs up.
The comment made the two of them share a nervous laugh. It was safe to say that people really liked how their song turned out.
"I hope people really take in those lyrics, because you two truly helped share the true purpose and mindset of heroes. Bravo!" All Might added.
"Thank you, All Might," Jirou said. "Izuku and I really wanted that to be the message of our song, especially for those hearing it who are not in the hero course."
"The last thing we wanted to do was to give everyone the wrong idea about why we want to be heroes!" Midoriya added.
"Well, I have to run, but I just wanted to congratulate both of you on a great performance. Young Midoriya and Young Jirou, you two are worthy of being professional singers, in my opinion!" All Might said, as he waved while leaving the backstage area.
Once All Might had left, Jirou and Midoriya grinned at each other. The whole afternoon had been extremely gratifying for both of them.
With their cases in hand, the two of them left the backstage area, ready to head back to the dorms for the evening.
By the time that the two of them had arrived back to the dorms, the after party was already in full swing in the common area. Kirashima already had his giant speaker blaring songs that Jirou would describe as tolerable at best. Sato was also busy in the kitchen, preparing all of the food for the evening ahead. A few of the students were still not in the room yet, however. That gave Midoriya and Jirou the perfect excuse to go upstairs to her room to put the cases of musical equipment away.
Once they had entered the room and put everything where it needed to go, the two of them paused. It was clear to both of them that something was on both of their minds.
"Hey Izuku, remember earlier when I was late arriving to the auditorium?" Jirou asked.
"Oh yeah, it's no big deal. You said you were calling your parents, right?" Midoriya asked.
Instead of giving her explanation right away, Jirou sat down at her desk chair, taking a moment to catch her breath.
"I asked them for any last minute advice for the song… I also told them we are dating," Jirou said.
Upon hearing the truth, Midoriya cracked a grin, which caught Jirou off guard.
"I actually told my mom we're dating this morning when I called her. I just felt like now was the right time, and my mom was very supportive of us! How did it go for you?" Midoriya answered.
Now it was Jirou who cracked a grin. Midoriya noticed that she had a much more relaxed look than before.
"Um, Mom, Dad… Izuku and I aren't just friends. We're actually a couple now," Kyouka told her parents over a video call.
While Kyotoku pumped his fist in the air and laughed, Mika gave a smirk in a manner very familiar to Kyouka's smirks.
"We had a feeling! Izuku's a great dude!" Kyotoku said, causing Kyouka to feel better about her decision to admit her relationship.
"I'm just glad you're with a decent guy like Izuku, plus we already know him," Mika said. "We definitely approve of your relationship."
"Thanks! I'll let you know how our song goes!" Kyouka beamed.
"Good luck, Kyouka!" Her parents said in unison.
"That… sounds exactly like how I thought it would go," Midoriya chuckled, relieved that they approved of him.
Once Jirou got up from the desk chair, the two of them shared a quick hug, happy to be free of any worries of their parents not approving of their relationship. Given that this was also their first relationship overall, the pressure had been even larger on them as a result.
"Hey Izuku, I have an idea," Jirou said.
"Yeah?"
"When we go downstairs, let's just hold hands. That way everyone in the class can find out at once on our terms."
Midoriya smiled. "Great idea, Kyouka."
Just as they were about to leave the room, however, they both received a text from Kirashima.
Eijiro Kirashima: Where are you two at?! Everyone else is here!
Rather than answering him, however, the two of them interlocked their hands and headed to the elevator. Even if they were hoping it would not be the case, both of them were starting to feel nervous about doing this. Jirou's left hand, the one she held Midoriya's hand with, began to sweat, which in turned caused Midoriya's right hand to sweat.
Even if there were nerves, neither of them dared asked whether they should not reveal their relationship. They knew that now was the best time to do it.
Getting off the elevator, the two of them, still holding hands, entered the common room. Kirashima was not kidding when he said that every single member of Class 1A was in the common area - even Ilda was there with them, putting his studies aside for the time being. However, none of them seemingly noticed that Midoriya and Jirou had entered the room.
The two of them looked at each other and nodded.
"Hey, everyone!" Midoriya and Jirou yelled over the music.
The entire class turned towards them.
Everyone instantly darted their eyes down towards their hands.
Seconds later, the entire class began yelling and rushing towards them.
"You guys!" Hagakure screamed.
"We knew it!" Kaminari cheered.
"We're so happy for you!" Kirashima said.
"Finally, I don't have to hide this shit anymore!" Bakugou yelled.
The class quickly turned their attention towards Bakugou upon hearing what he had said. Bakugou then gave a grunt and rolled his eyes.
"Yeah, I knew before all of you, by accident. But I hid it from you all," Bakugou added, causing Yaoyorozu's eye to twitch.
"Thank you, Kacchan," Midoriya smiled.
Although the after party was originally meant to celebrate the Cultural Festival being a success, it quickly turned into a celebration of Class 1A's first relationship officially becoming public. To Midoriya and Jirou, it felt like each student in the class took their turn over the course of night to share their thoughts with them - whether it was genuine congratulations, or some lighthearted, sarcastic remarks.
"Well, well, well," Yaoyorozu said to Jirou, after the two of them finally managed to find one another later that night.
"You finally know the truth now, heh heh," Jirou smirked.
"It feels much better to have it public now, right?" Yaoyorozu said.
"Other than everyone yelling at us, sure," Jirou said.
"It will definitely be easier to focus on school and becoming a hero now, too," Yaoyorozu said, with Jirou nodding in agreement.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the room, Mineta finally had Midoriya cornered.
"Midoriya! How did you do it?" Mineta asked.
"Well, I wasn't creepy for starters," Midoriya said, as he sheepishly rubbed the back of his head.
"You need to help me get a girlfriend now too!" Mineta pleaded, although he was only met by a tongue smack from Asui instead.
Seeing that it was the perfect opportunity to escape from Mineta, Midoriya scanned the room to see where Jirou was. On his way over to her, he was stopped yet again, this time by someone he did not expect to press him about his relationship.
"So, Midoriya, you've got a girlfriend now!" Ilda said.
"I, um, have been with her for a little while, but sure," Midoriya answered, as he noticed Uraraka looking at them out of the corner of his eye.
For a moment, Ilda held a serious but expressionless look towards Midoriya. For a second, Midoriya was worried that he was about to receive a lecture about relationships from the Class President.
However, Ilda then gave a chuckle and a thumbs up towards Midoriya, much to his relief.
"Well, good for you two! Just stay caught up on your studies, okay?" Ilda smiled.
"Of course!" Midoriya said.
Once Ilda walked away from him and went towards Uraraka, Midoriya was finally able to go over to where Jirou was standing. Like earlier, Jirou stood next to Yaoyorozu, with the two of them sharing a laugh about something that Midoriya had missed.
"Oh, look who finally managed to show up," Yaoyorozu said with a cunning grin.
"Hey Izuku, let's go outside for a minute. I need some fresh air," Jirou said.
"Ooh, code words already?" Yaoyorozu asked.
Jirou then shot one of her earphone jacks towards Yaoyorozu's eyes, causing Yaoyorozu to give a wince.
"You've turned into quite the instigator, Yaomomo," Jirou said while rolling her eyes.
"I secretly enjoy this kind of stuff," Yaoyorozu replied, walking away from the two of them with a smile.
With no one else ready to corner them again, Midoriya and Jirou finally were able to walk outside, free from the rest of the people at the party. As happy as they were to have their relationship known by the others, being greeted by the quiet moonlight and stars from above was exactly what they needed after being bombarded by the entire class.
Once they were a few steps away from the front of the dorm building, the two of them turned towards each other. Rather than saying anything at first, they instead stared at one another for a few moments, listening to the crickets chirp in the distance.
"You know what this reminds me of?" Jirou finally broke the silence, catching Midoriya off guard.
"Our first kiss," Midoriya answered, leading Jirou to nod.
Before the two of them could continue speaking, however, the doors to the dorm building crept open once more. Jirou narrowed her eyes as she quickly realized who had joined them.
"You again," Jirou shook her head.
"Hey, come on now!" Ashido said, raising her arms up.
The two of them laughed together once they finished what Midoriya realized was a sarcastic exchange. They shared matching smirks as well, leading to Midoriya giving a smile as well.
"I just wanted to congratulate you two, that's all. I figured it would be best to wait until now since everyone else was yapping," Ashido explained.
"We appreciate that, thanks," Midoriya said.
"And I want to thank you too, Ashido," Jirou said.
"…For what?" Ashido took a step back, surprised by Jirou's response.
Jirou took a step forward towards Ashido, offering a warmer expression rather than her typical aloof look.
"You lived up to your promise of not interfering with our relationship anymore, plus no one else found out from you. So, thank you for that. It made life a lot easier for Izuku and myself," Jirou answered her.
Ashido rubbed the back of her head before giving a toothy grin to both of them.
"Thank you for helping me realize that what I was doing was wrong. I wouldn't have stopped unless you spoke up… just being honest," Ashido grinned.
"I think we've all grown a lot over the past few months," Jirou said.
Midoriya and Ashido both nodded in agreement. An awkward silence then ensued for a moment. Suddenly, Ashido began bursting out in laughter, leading Midoriya and Jirou to join her as well.
"I guess that's a part of growing up, huh?" Ashido pointed out.
"Yeah, one day when we're adults, we'll look back at how silly we all were in high school," Jirou said.
While Midoriya found himself surprised by where the conversation had gone to, he continually nodded to both of their points. He was aware of the history between them in the past. He was glad to see that both of them had truly made up after all of this time.
"Well, I gotta run, but I'm really happy for both of you. See you around this weekend," Ashido said, walking back into the dorms.
A moment later, Jirou turned back around towards Midoriya. Even though Jirou had plenty of things that she wanted to say, she remained silent. She had been with Midoriya long enough to know that something was on his mind.
"It's hard to think about growing up. Being an adult one day, being out of high school… sometimes the days feel so long, yet it all goes by so fast, huh?" Midoriya said.
"Yeah, I totally get you. I know we're still first years, but I just want to soak it all in. And I want to enjoy being with you too, Izuku," Jirou said.
"Kyouka…"
"Izuku?"
"I want to thank you too."
"Thank me?" Jirou said, taking a step forward.
"Yeah. For everything. For giving me a chance back when we first worked together for that class assignment. We could've easily just ignored each other, or maybe never even been paired up to begin with… I'm glad it all worked out for us."
Midoriya had been looking down at his feet. But as he looked up, what he saw surprised him.
Jirou's eyes were watering. There were small tears forming in her eyes.
Midoriya's eyes were beginning to tear up as well.
The two of them ran towards each other, squeezing one another with a tight hug. At first, no words were spoken. The two of them just enjoyed one another under the beautiful night sky, grateful to be together on that Friday night.
"Thank you too, Izuku. Thank you for caring so much about me, my interests, how I feel about music… I never thought that I could share my passion with anyone else. But you… you showed me that I could," Jirou said.
As she said it, an old memory rang in her mind from something that she had told her mother much earlier in the school year.
"They don't need to know what my stupid passions are, and they wouldn't care anyways," Jirou had told her mother.
Jirou smiled. She was glad to know that what she had said back then could not have been any more false.
"I feel the same way, Kyouka," Izuku said, backing away from their hug. "I was bullied all the time for my passion of heroes when I was younger. I'm glad you accepted my passion, too."
"I just love how we had our passions unite during our performance today. My love of music, your love of heroes… I think that's why everyone loved our song. When you're that passionate about something, everyone else can feel the intensity of it," Jirou said.
"I agree, 100%. Being with someone who shares their passions with you and cares about your own passions as well… there's nothing better than that," Midoriya said.
"Let's keep on supporting each other. And now, we don't have to worry about hiding our relationship from anyone anymore, either," Jirou said.
As Jirou finished her point, it was like a light bulb went off in their heads. Both of them stared at each other with their mouths agape.
"We can share our passion for each other to everyone now, too!" Midoriya said.
"Right! We hid our passion of music and heroes from everyone… and we hid our passion for each other from everyone else too. Now, it's all out for everyone to enjoy."
Midoriya and Jirou leaned forward to kiss one another for the first time that night. The feelings were similar to their first kiss, yet the thrill of the unknown was gone. They were comfortable with each other now, not having a care in the world if someone saw what was happening.
Their passions were united. Their passions were transparent. Their passions were their joys in life.
"I love you, Kyouka," Midoriya said.
"I love you too, Izuku," Kyouka said back.
FOUR MONTHS LATER
The first year of high school at UA flew by very fast for everyone in Class 1A.
They had learned a lot in their first year as high schoolers. It was a combination of the typical academic classes that everyone took, lessons about how to be a hero, and also how to live independently from their time in the dorms.
Sometimes, school was the last thing that any of them wanted to think about. Other times, school was everything that they wanted to think about.
With their first of three years of high school now complete, they began to lean towards embracing the days of classes and homework. Soon enough, they would graduate, and become professional heroes.
In just a few days, the class would move back into the dorms, as they would become Class 2A now that they were second year students. For now, everyone had gone their separate ways, enjoying spring break back at home with their families and neighbors.
Izuku Midoriya was one of them. He stood in front of a mirror in his room, wearing a plain white t-shirt and long, black pants. Once he combed his hair one last time, he exited the room, and went to see his mother, Inko, in the living room.
"Alright, I'm off to see Kyouka. I'll be back tonight!" Izuku said.
"That's great! Your first visit with her since school let out for spring break. Enjoy your time with her today!" Inko said back.
Izuku gave a big smile back to his mother.
"Thanks, mom. I've got the best date planned for Kyouka and I today!" Izuku said, as he left his home and departed for the Jirou home.
A/N: And with that, there is just one chapter remaining in the story. And surprise, it will be a mini time-skip for the finale!
It's been an extremely long road to get to this point - over 100K words, three years, and several hiatuses along the way. But next week, we will wrap up the story. I pledge to do my absolute best to make this final chapter the best one yet.
Thank you for reading, and please leave a comment, favorite or follow if you'd like - they are greatly appreciated and have helped me remain motivated over this long writing journey. See you next time for Chapter 40 - the finale of When Our Passions Unite!
Feel free to follow me on AO3 or Twitter (CuriousPug5) too, if you'd like, I'd love to connect with you all! I plan on cross-posting When Our Passions Unite to AO3 in the future, too.