Chapter Text
Ain't that how it's s'posed to be? Though it isn't me
Boys will be bugs, right?
Kyoka Jirou finished her song with one last strum, turned her phone camera off, and placed her acoustic guitar onto the ground under the shady tree beside her. The scenery in the park was beautiful; there was a beautiful pond, shady trees, and old benches. Her recording spot was up on a hill with one tree, and it overlooked everything. It was great, and Kyoka was the only person there. Most people preferred to be out watching their kids on a playground or inside on their phones instead of enjoying nature. Jirou felt at peace when singing and playing her guitar, and it was even better in a place with amazing scenery such as the park.
After a few minutes of enjoying the nice spring weather, Kyoka stood up, grabbed her phone and guitar, and headed on her way back to her home. She stared down at the asphalt road and listened to the thumps her shoes made against the ground as she walked. Each even step reminded her of a booming bass drum keeping the time to a song. Everything was somehow connected to music in Kyoka’s life.
Jirou stopped when she got to her family’s home. The short and small brown house didn’t look like much, but she didn’t care. Her family spent their money on things they enjoyed, like their music and passions, instead of being flashy. She entered through the front door and placed her guitar onto the wood floor.
“Mom? Dad?” Kyoka called out into the empty living room. No response. They must be working in the recording studio , she decided.
She sighed as she stumbled towards her room and flopped down onto her bed. Today would be another lazy Saturday before heading back to U.A. Kyoka pulled her black phone out from her pocket and checked the recent texts.
2-a GIRLS <3
Pinky: I’M BORED LETS GO TO THE MALL
Froppy: sounds good, ribbit
Uravity: sure! will you invite Hatsume??
Kyoka smiled and rolled her eyes. Everyone always teased Mina about her new (and very close) friendship with Mei from the support course. The two pink haired girls had enough energy to match each other. No one was expecting them to be friends, but somehow it just happened.
Pinky: YEAH SURE
Invisible Girl: I’M IN!!
Creati: I’m available!
Pinky: JIIIROUUUU WHERE ARE YOU
Uravity: join us jirou
Uravity: or else
Invisible Girl: COME ON JIROU!!
Creati: Girls, don’t pressure her. She might be busy right now! Please be patient.
Uravity: jirou
Pinky: jiiiiiiiiiii
Froppy: rou?
Earphone Jack: ok ok i’m here what do you want
Pinky: malk
Uravity: mall*
Earphone Jack: fine
Pinky: OK MEET YALL THERE IN AN HOUR!! <3
Kyoka blinked down at her phone. An hour? The drive to the mall was at least twenty minutes by bus, and she still had to get dressed and ready! She couldn’t go in public in the same clothing she wore in her video. Wait. The video. She still had to upload and edit that. Kyoka promised a new video the night before, and she needed to make sure everything was perfect. If even a strand of her bright purple hair or part of her earphone jack showed, she’d need to restart and record it again. Jirou didn’t want anyone to know who she was, especially if she was out on the channel. She wasn’t ready for her fellow students, or parents, to know yet. Especially Mineta. For now, Kyoka and Auris were two different people.
Kyoka jumped up from her comfortable bed and ran to her closet. Most of her wardrobe was made up of blacks, grays, whites, and purples. She grabbed a white t-shirt, black jeans, and a brown leather jacket, then she quickly pulled the outfit on. Kyoka pulled a brush through her messy hair and smeared eyeliner across her eyes. She looked decent, but the makeup was rough. She pulled a black and yellow Present Mic cap off of the wall to cover up her messy hair and even messier face. Jirou grabbed her backpack and ran out the door and onto the street.
“GET IN JIROU, WE’RE GOING SHOPPING!!”
Kyoka looked to her right to see Mina standing up in the passenger side of Momo’s sleek black convertible. Momo looked embarrassed, but Ochaco was shouting as well. Tsuyu and Toru sat crammed in the backseat.
While the car pulled up to a stop next to her, Kyoka laughed as she looked at the crowded car. “Uh, I thought we were meeting there. Anyways, I’m pretty sure having four people in the backseat of a small car is illegal, ‘heroes in training’.”
Uraraka flopped her hand down like an ‘as if’ gesture. “Whatever. We’re all short, except for Yaomomo, and she’s in the front! If we get caught, we’ll toss Hagakure out and she can run!”
Tsuyu looked concerned, but Toru’s headband was bobbing up and down, so she must’ve been nodding. Kyoka rolled her eyes at the group as she opened the car door and climbed in next to Hagakure. Poor Asui was mushed against Uraraka.
“So, where’re we heading first, ribbit?” Tsuyu croaked out. Immediately, Mina, Ochaco, and Toru all started talking.
“Food!”
“Arcade!”
“Clothes!”
Momo turned her head to the side. Kyoka couldn’t help but blush seeing her regal face and beautiful dark eyes. Her hair was swept into a perfect ponytail. Everything about her is perfect, Jirou thought.
“Okay, Jirou, why don’t you choose, since they’ll never agree?” Momo’s words jolted Jirou away from her thoughts.
“Oh! Uh, well, I do need some new guitar picks. I can go there on my own while you get clothes or something.” Kyoka spoke quietly. She felt awkward about being the one to decide.
“Ooh, ooh, I wanna see the music store!” Hagakure shouted out from Jirou’s left, “It sounds so cool!”
Tsuyu ribbited in agreement, while Mina and Ochaco both nodded wildly. Momo turned back to Jirou with a dazzling smile. Wow, her teeth are perfect, too. She’s basically a goddess.
“Sounds perfect.” Yaoyorozu looked over at the passenger seat. “Mina, are we picking up Hatsume? I’ll need her address if so.”
Mina got a smirk on her face and rolled her yellow eyes. “Well, she insisted on riding her newly made (experimental) roller skates there. They have these insane boosters, and they can totally go faster than this car! I’m not sure how well Mei is at balancing, though. It may be tough.”
Ochaco laughed from behind Mina’s seat. “She’ll make it! Hmm, I wonder if we’ll see anyone else we know. I bet everyone is getting new spring outfits!”
While Ochaco kept rambling on, Kyoka stared up at the blue sky smeared with clouds. Spring had only just begun, but the weather already felt fantastic. Rolling down the streets in Yaomomo’s fancy sports car felt relaxing to Kyoka, even with all the girls chattering around her.
Jirou felt her phone buzz in the pocket of her jacket, so she pulled it out to check her new notifications. There was a brand new comment on one of her YouTube videos that she posted a few days ago.
tsuku_shadow14
Could you play ‘Immortals’ by the band Fall Out Boy? My pet and I definitely enjoyed this, as I play the guitar too. Thank you, Auris.
Weird. Jirou felt like she recognized something about the username, but she couldn’t place a finger on it. Oh well. At least people, and pets, were enjoying her videos! She made a mental note to play the recommended song as soon as possible. For now, she wanted to have a good time with her friends.
“FINALLY! GET OUT, GIRLS, WE’RE HERE!” Ashido shouted while Momo parked the car, and Jirou immediately slipped her phone into her jacket pocket. “OKAY, NOW TO THE MUSIC STORE!”
The other girls met her words with cheers as they all scrambled to get out of the car. Tsuyu ended up leaping over everyone else to escape her position in the middle of the row. Momo and Kyoka both waited until everyone else was out. Just as the doors both closed, they heard a shout.
“Hello, Class 1-A!” A voice yelled out to the group of girls.
Jirou looked up to see Mei Hatsume of the support course running towards them. She met Mina with a big hug and smile on her face. Both of the pink haired girls pulled apart, and Hatsume faced the group.
“Frog, printer, camouflage, balloon, and ears!” She spoke in a loud and excited voice similar to Mina’s. “It’s good to see you all! I totally forgot your names!”
Momo chuckled politely and reintroduced each girl. With each name, Hatsume seemed to be studying the students with her vision quirk. Jirou watched as her yellow eyes zoomed in and out like camera lenses.
Mina clapped her hands together once the introductions came to a close. “All right, then, let’s get going!”
-
-
-
After many exhausting hours with her friends later, Kyoka laid in her bed struggling to fall asleep. Hanging out at the mall was fun, but she couldn’t take her eyes off of Momo. Her ‘little’ crush was getting bigger, and it was definitely a distraction. Whenever Momo talked, Kyoka felt her face grow red and her voice quiver. If she was going to be a pro hero, she had to learn how to talk to everyone, even pretty girls like Yaoyorozu. For now, her coping mechanism would be talking about how amazing she was on her YouTube channel.
Instead of trying to sleep, Jirou grabbed her phone from her night stand and checked her newly posted video of Boys Will Be Bugs. 61 views, 14 likes, 2 dislikes. It seemed to be the usual ratio, nothing special. There were two comments though, and so she went and checked both of them.
tentacolemezou
my boyfriend showed me your channel, and i think you’re really good. could you play pompeii by bastille? i know it’s difficult as a guitar cover, but my boyfriend and i would both enjoy hearing more songs from you. thanks
CRIMS0NRI0TFAN
WOW AURIS THIS COVER IS SO MANLY!! THIS SONG IS GREAT DUDE!!!
Kyoka read over the two messages over and over. Tentacole? Isn’t that Shoji’s hero name? And is his first name Mezou? And if his boyfriend recommended her channel, would that make him Tsuku_shadow14? Duh, of course it was Tokoyami. Kyoka facepalmed. That username was so obvious, and it went right past her head. Great, now two people from her class know her channel. She never expected people she knew would actually see her videos. Singing at the school festival in front of a huge crowd was hard enough.
CRIMS0NRI0TFAN could be any random follower of the retired pro hero, but Kyoka had a suspicion it was Kirishima from class. No one else would type in all caps and call a song cover manly.
Jirou groaned and flopped onto her stomach. Ugh. She’d have to be even more careful when recording. The class would easily be able to piece together that ‘M’ she always talked about is Momo.
If Shoji knew about her channel, then he’d tell Ojiro, and Ojiro would tell Hagakure, and Hagakure would tell Ashido, and then the whole class would know. Tetsutetsu of class 1-B probably already heard about it if Kirishima was a fan. Those two are like the same person, except one is red. If Tetsutetsu knew, then all of 1-B would know, too. He definitely likes to talk.
If news about her little channel spread, she’d be overwhelmed with having to keep uploading new videos. Jirou knew that a YouTube channel shouldn’t be such a massive responsibility, but as a hero in training, she had to put in her best effort into everything she did. Maybe if I’m perfect, Momo might like me back.
Oh well. It wasn’t a good time to think about everything that could go wrong. For now, all Kyoka has to do is fulfill the requests from Shoji and Tokoyami.
Sunday started off slow. After rolling out of bed, Kyoka poured herself a bowl of stale cereal, quickly ate, and then went straight to the park. She’d have to record at least two videos today since she wouldn’t have much free time after school. Who knows how long that’ll take. Jirou reminded herself she’d have to ask her parents if she could borrow some insulation for her dorm room to block the sound from her instruments. Aizawa had already yelled at her once when he was trying to sleep, and she didn’t want it to happen again.
As Kyoka walked to her usual recording spot, she felt her phone vibrate in her hand, and she lifted the screen up to her face. Surprisingly, she had a new text from Tsuyu Asui. Confused, Kyoka opened it up.
Tsuyu Asui🐸
hi jirou, are you busy today, ribbit? i’d like to talk to you
That’s weird. I barely talk to her at school, much less outside of it. I wonder what she has to say. Well, I guess I’m free after I finish recording.
Jirou placed her acoustic guitar against the shady tree on the hill, her tree, and quickly typed back a response.
Kyoka Jirou🎵
sure. could you meet at ponde park in an hour or so??
Tsuyu Asui🐸
yes
Jirou snickered at Tsuyu’s short response. The green haired girl was definitely straight forward. She liked that.
Kyoka placed her phone on the ground and grabbed her guitar from the tree. After making sure the camera angle was perfect and her face, hair, and earphone jacks weren’t visible, she pressed the red record button.
“Hey. So the song I’ll be playing today is called Immortals. Thanks for requesting it. I enjoy this song, even though it may not be as intense as some other Fall Out Boy songs. I guess I kinda relate to it, y’know? It reminds me of someone, uh, ‘M’. She always stands strong. I admire her so much…. Sorry, I’m rambling.” Jirou cleared her throat. “Anyways! Here’s your song.”
They say we are what we are
But we don’t have to be
Jirou looked down at her guitar as she sang. Her fingers shifted to each familiar pattern to play each chord. It wasn’t a difficult song, so she could really focus on her vocals instead of trying not to mess up her chords.
I’m bad behavior but I do it in the best way
The familiar words left her lips as she strummed her pick softly against the metal strings. Even though pushing down hard on the strings made her fingers sore, it felt comforting. Music meant everything to her.
I’ll be the watcher
Of the eternal flame
I’ll be the guard dog
Of all your fever dreams
As Kyoka shifted into the pre chorus, she started to relax. So far she hadn’t made a single mistake. Now, she could just enjoy her favorite hobby: making noise.
Jirou finished her recording after a few minutes, but Tsuyu wasn’t supposed to be there soon, so she decided to start on the next one.
“Hey again. I’m recording two songs in a day, so don’t judge that I’m wearing the same outfit! I got a request to play Pompeii. Thanks, Tentacole, and cool name! It sounds, hm, heroic.” Really, Kyoka? “This is just gonna be a more relaxed and acoustic version of the song. I don’t know this song too well, but I listened to it, and it’s pretty nice. Here’s your song.”
I was left to my own devices
Many days fell away with nothing to show
This was definitely tricker to play than the last song. Kyoka had to improvise since it wasn’t a very simple song, and so she had to layer her chords with the tapping of her feet to keep a steady and pounding drum beat.
And the walls kept tumbling down
In the city that we love
Grey clouds roll over the hills
Bringing darkness from above
While singing, Kyoka couldn’t help but think of her many encounters with villains. Something about the song felt personal. She knew what it felt like to have walls tumbling down, figuratively and literally. Even if Kyoka hadn’t been in as many fights as some of her fellow students, she understood everything they’d been through. Heroes had to work together and support each other. Maybe that’s why she was about to spend her day with a certain froggy student she’s barely talked to.
Kyoka let out a sigh and closed her dark eyes and she went into the chorus.
But if you close your eyes
Does it almost feel like nothing’s changed at all?
Kyoka opened her eyes when she finished the song. She smiled down at the phone camera, even though she knew her face wouldn’t be seen.
“Thanks for listening. Auris, signing off.” She pressed the stop button.
Jirou sighed as she laid back onto the soft ground with her head resting on the tree. She closed her eyes for another moment. It felt nice to be able to just relax like this. She soon opened her eyes again to meet a pair staring back at her.
“Hello, Jirou, ribbit.” Tsuyu Asui said as she stared down at Jirou with her large dark green eyes. The student stood over Kyoka’s body was bent down to look at her. Who knows how long she’d been there?
Kyoka quickly jumped to her feet. “Oh, Asui! D-did you just get here? It’s really early, right?”
“Call me Tsu”, she croaked, “and I really liked your song. Auris is a cool name. Were you recording a video for something?”
Kyoka groaned and slapped her hand against her face. She got too lost in the music. It’s too late now. “Uh, Tsu, I can trust you, right? Can you keep a secret?”
Asui nodded in reply.
“So, I have this little YouTube channel I started. I go by Auris. I cover songs and then post them. I guess people like it, cause I’ve been getting more subscribers lately, around 74. I think Tokoyami and Shoji know my channel, too, but it’s anonymous.” Jirou explained without looking at Tsuyu. She was too embarrassed to have been caught practically singing to herself.
“That sounds nice. Why don’t you want people to know, ribbit?”
“I guess I just talk about personal stuff a lot. I don’t really want people knowing all my inner thoughts. It’s easier if they don’t know who’s thinking of them. And I guess my hobby isn’t that important for everyone to know about.”
Tsuyu was quiet for a moment. She then put a finger to her chin, and Kyoka immediately knew she was about to say something very straight forward. She braced herself, though she still wasn’t prepared for Asui’s next words.
“Do you like Yaomomo?”
The question was met with a lot of sputtering.
“W-what? Why w-would you think t-that?” Jirou managed to get out while covering her bright red face with her hands. Tsuyu was observant.
“That’s a yes, ribbit. You always stare at her.” Tsuyu spoke calmly while Kyoka kept stuttering and trying to explain herself.
Kyoka stopped talking and sighed. “I’m really that obvious, huh? Please don’t tell anyone, Tsu. If word got out to Mina, everyone would know in a matter of minutes. I’m not ready for that yet. What if people don’t support me?” Kyoka slumped to the ground with a pout and laid back against the huge tree.
Tsuyu slid down to sit next to her. “I do. I like Ochaco.”
Jirou was even more shocked. “Really? I… I never would’ve thought.”
Asui shrugged. “Yes, ribbit. I guess I don’t really talk about myself much. I wouldn’t worry about our class, though. Except for Mineta. He’s a piece of shit anyways.”
Kyoka’s eyebrows went far up at Tsuyu’s harsh language. She was seeing a whole new side to the frog girl. She didn’t think they would be able to get along so easily since they barely interacted during class. Kyoka thought it was nice to see what she was like when she could relax and not focus on education.
She looked over to her green-eyed friend. “Thank you, Tsu.”
Asui smiled softly. “You’re welcome, Kyoka-chan.”
The two girls sat in silence for a moment. Tsuyu seemed to be completely focused on something in the distance. Kyoka followed her hard gaze to a large pond near the bottom of the hill. She smiled softly as she turned to the frog-like student.
“Do you want to go over there?”
Tsuyu stood up with a nod. “Ribbit.”
Kyoka chuckled. “Alright, then, I’ll race you there!”
Both heroes-in-training took off running towards the small body of water.
-
-
-
Kyoka and Tsuyu sat on the dock of the pond with their legs dangling off the side and their feet touching the cool water. After finishing a talk about who the next Big 3 of U.A. would be, Tsuyu spoke up.
“Jirou, could you cover a song for me? Titanium. I think your viewers would like it, ribbit. You could tell them your hero-in-training friend requested it.”
Kyoka put her finger to her chin. Great, she was practically becoming Asui after spending an hour with her. “Huh, that’s a good idea. Everyone loves heroes, and that song would fit us well.” She turned to Tsuyu with a smile. “Sure. I’m pretty sure I know the chord pattern for it. Wanna go record it now?”
Tsuyu nodded with a smile on her face, and she immediately started running/jumping towards Kyoka’s tree. The purple haired girl jumped to her feet and dashed after Tsuyu, though she definitely wasn’t as fast as the frog girl.
Finally, Jirou reached the tree where Asui was waiting. “Damn, you’re fast. Alright, let me get set up and then we can start.” Tsuyu ribbited in reply.
Kyoka pulled open the zipper of her case and pulled her acoustic guitar onto her lap. She sat on the ground, propped her phone up, and then checked to see if Asui was ready. She gave a thumbs up from where she was sitting a few feet away. Kyoka pressed record.
“Hey, Auris here. Right now, I’ve got one of my friends sitting here and watching me. She’s a student training to become a hero. Actually, so am I. We’re both at the same school. M goes there too. It’s hard juggling academics and training, but it’s worth it to see smiles on people’s faces when I help them. We’re going to be the best heroes we can be. Here’s Titanium.”
You shout it out, but
I can’t hear a word you say
I’m talking loud, not saying much
Kyoka glanced over at Tsuyu with a smile as she skipped part of the verse and went straight into the pre chorus. This was going to be her best song yet.
I’m bulletproof, nothing to lose
Fire away, fire away
Ricochet, you take your aim
Fire away, fire away