Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The whole class was in the commons of the dorms worried about the four students who had participated in the raid that was recently aired on the news. Maybe they were overacting since they didn't list any casualties on their classmates, but the constant attacks made on their class made them a tight-knit group of heroes in training. Even Bakugo was there waiting for the four to return. One of the students who was waiting was a purple-haired girl with jacks on the ends of her earlobes.

Like the others, she knew that the four were carrying some type of burden the past week, though she had no clue to what that was until the news came on. She was pretty close to the Uraraka and Tsu, but she had to admit that she wasn't particularly all buddy-buddy to Kirishima and Midoriya.

That's not to say she disliked them or didn't care; it was just that they were always on a different wavelength than her. Sure, she had the occasional conversation with the two boys throughout the year. Yet she couldn't definitively say that she would actively engage in a conversation with them on a daily basis.

Kirishima was a dedicated, boisterous person who was all about toughness and manliness in heroics. Which was fine whenever they teamed up during training, but his overenthusiastic nature made it hard to follow along whenever they weren't in training. Though she had to admit she found his antics with a particular explosive blond quite amusing.

Midoriya on the other hand... was a sort of an oddball.

When she had first seen the green-haired teen at the beginning of the school year, she couldn't help but think how out of place he looked. He had that monstrous quirk of his that caused major injuries to himself whenever he pushed too far, yet he was also the most nervous and high-strung person she ever met. If she was being perfectly honest, she expected him to be expelled after the first week of constantly breaking his arms.

And yet, despite all the hardships and the setbacks Midoriya had stacked against him, he always managed to keep pushing on. With all that nervousness melting away in the face of danger and replaced with firm determination to do the right thing no matter the cost. He was an inspiration to everyone in the classroom to push themselves to their absolute limits, even Bakugo. (Though he would never admit it). Thankfully, he has gotten much better at using his quirk to move around and attack compared to the start of the school year.

Though like the other three students who went to the work studies, he also was going through some internal struggles. She noticed that the light in his eyes had somewhat dimmed, and his smiles throughout the day were smaller than what she was used to seeing.

Suddenly the sound of the front door was heard as the four people in question entered, looking worn out and exhausted, but otherwise ok. With the other students wasting no time in crowding them and showering them in worries and comfort.

"I'm just glad they're ok.", Shoji said to her with a mouth on the end of a tentacle.

"Are they ok?", Kyoka asked as she looked between the four who entered.

She couldn't help but doubt the idea as she saw the four being bombarded with comments and reassurances from the class. With the class president stepping in to prevent the four from being completely overwhelmed.

"Iida, it's fine.", Midoriya surprisingly spoke up with a slight smile to reassure him.

Jirou frowned at the statement, knowing for a fact that he was lying. This was not well known to many others, but she could detect lies through hearing a person's heartbeat. If what her mother said was true about this technique, it should be 100% foolproof. However, this was a technique that she was hesitant to use in her daily life. She thinks everyone is entitled to their own secrets every now and then. Heck, everyone here at the dorms wouldn't have known that she played all those instruments if they didn't do the room contest.

So unless she thought that there was a chance that someone could be injured or hurt whenever she heard a lie during her time here in UA, she kept her mouth. For the most part, the school year went through without any problems. Though there were certainly some outliers. (Apparently, Endeavor didn't save the trio from Stain at Hosu. Yet that is what the three students who were there have said and all the news reports stated. She didn't look too far into that conspiracy.)

She won't say anything about Midoriya's comment. Not unless something comes up that puts himself or others in harm's way. For now, she just had to hope that the reassurance from their classmates and the chocolate cake Sato shoved in his mouth is good enough.

It has been a week since their return, and it looks like Midoriya was no better off now than he was before the raid. He started getting small bags under his eyes as the days went on continued on, and started training by himself right after classes ended. Anytime someone would try to reach out, he would always brush off their concerns and worries. It started to frustrate the purple-haired teen as she watched him slowly eat his food across the cafeteria as his friends try to engage in conversation.

She sighed in frustration, knowing that she would probably have to confront him about what she knew. Her sigh had gained the attention of Momo who was sitting right next to her as she ate her own lunch.

"Is something wrong Kyoka?"

"Just wondering what's got Midoriya all strung up over there."

Following her friend's gaze, the creationist nodded in understanding with a frown after seeing the green-haired teen's current state. "Yes, I have spoken about it with Iida. He hasn't been getting any luck either about talking about it.". She looked at her friend with a curious gaze before suggesting, "Maybe you should talk to him?"

While Jirou wasn't totally against the idea, she was a bit surprised that Momo came to the same conclusion.

"Are you sure? I mean, we never really talked outside of class.", she asked as she twirled a jack around her fingers, "Would I even be a good choice? I'm usually not good at these types of situations."

"Well, I'm hoping your blunt nature would help him realize how far he is pushing himself."

Blunt? She supposed her friend had a point. She never really had a problem with speaking her mind whenever she wanted to unless it extremely flustered her. Though if Midoriya needed someone straightforward, there was already someone with that skill set.

"Shouldn't Tsu be the one to confront him then?"

"While Tsu is also blunt in her opinions, she usually backs off if she feels she's putting too much pressure. I feel like you would do a much better job at giving him, as one would say, the 'kick in the pants that he needs."

She chuckled at the phrase, finding the words coming from her high-class friend an amusing treat. Although now she would have to find a time to confront him. Hopefully, she would have time today seeing that it was the end of the school week.

After the long school day had finally ended, the class were now off doing their own activities. With Midoriya disappearing once again immediately after dinner. Several of his close friends encouraged them to hang out with them, but he still turned him down to do some personal training. The sound-based hero decided that it couldn't wait until tomorrow, and had to confront him about his issues today.

This was how she found herself in the commons half an hour before curfew. While several people were curious about why she was just sitting there on her phone, they didn't pry her about it. Iida was about to give her a lecture on the importance of rest and obeying the rules of the dorm, but luckily Momo was there to stop him and explain the situation. After wishing her classmates a goodnight, she sat on one of the couches scrolling on her phone, waiting for a certain bush head to walk through the doors.

…

Midoriya groaned as he made his way towards the dorms, wanting nothing more than a quick shower before heading to bed. He felt bad for brushing off his friends whenever they asked him, but that was always overpowered by a massive wave of guilt for a certain little girl with a horn. He hated that he had to use Eri's quirk to beat Overhaul when she was already in such a scared state of mind.

Once he entered the dorms, he noticed most of the lights in the room were off aside from a single lamp near a couch where Kyoka Jirou was scrolling on her phone. It was an odd sight for him since he usually came back to an empty room before heading up.

"H-Hey Jirou, what are you doing still up?"

"I could ask you the same thing Green."

Midoriya could only chuckle sheepishly at the counter and the nickname. Even if they didn't talk to each other much, it was always a term that she would use whenever he was trying to get his attention. When he asked why she called them that, she just shrugged and said that it 'Best described his image'. While he found it kind of odd that a nickname for him was based on the color of his eyes and hair, he grew quite fond of it after a while.

"You know, just training."

"I see..."

By now her phone was put away into her pocket. She didn't look too impressed at his answer, with her arms crossed against her chest and her eyes scanning every inch of his face.

"And are you getting enough rest?"

"Y-yup!", he said a bit too quickly, "Just a bit tired from today's workout."

They stared at one another, with Midoriya fidgeting a bit under her stern gaze. Until Midoriya broke up the silence a moment later.

"W-Well, if that's all, then I guess I should go to bed.", he said before making his way past her towards showers.

"Midoriya."

He froze. She usually never called by his name unless it was something really important. The last time he had heard her call him that was when they were teamed up together in training and he was in one of his muttering sprees, almost wasting their entire time together to make a strategy. Yet unlike the last time when she said it with amusement, her voice was laced in frustration.

"I know you are lying, so you can quit the act."

He winced in guilt, but knew deep down he wasn't really putting much of a front even to his other classmates.

When he looked back, the purplette raised one of her jacks, not taking her eyes off of him, "I can tell when someone is lying by listening to their heartbeat. I knew you were lying to Iida when you came back, but I thought you would've listened to your friends."

While a part of him was itching to ask about the ins and outs of her skill, another part of him felt extremely guilty for being called out for ignoring his friends.

"I know we don't usually talk outside of the classroom, but I don't think I'm exaggerating when I say the entire class is worried about you. Can you at least say why are you training so hard?"

Midoriya looked back to see Jirou staring at him with deep concern. It was odd, they don't speak to each other aside from the occasional greetings and help from an assignment. Yet she stayed after everyone went to bed to check on him. And she said everyone was worried about him? He knew that his close friends were, but the entire class? It warmed his heart that so many cared, but also caused it to ache knowing he was ignoring that many people. She didn't say anything as he sat down next to her. Giving him all the time that he needs to gather himself.

"I just feel like I'm always falling behind.", her freckled classmate said in a small voice. She almost didn't hear him at first, but didn't push him until he started to speak again. "Every leap I take, I feel there's always two massive steps back."

She frowned as she thought about how she should answer. From a certain perspective, she could see how one may think that way. He went through his first month at UA breaking his arms until he figured out a way to use his quirk correctly. Then, even after he started improving, he had to break his arms further to save a kid at the summer camp. Clearly, he has been having these feelings for quite a while. Yet, something must've happened in this raid that caused him to train as hard as he did.

"Midoriya, I don't know what exactly happened at the work study, but I think you need to talk to someone about it.", she placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder, "It doesn't have to be me, but you need to speak to someone about it."

Midoriya turned to look at his classmate on the couch and saw the concern in her eyes as she looked into his own. He considered waiting until the morning to tell Iida or Uraraka, but he may just brush it like he has been doing this past week. He wasn't sure what prompted him to share his experience of the yakuza raid with her that night, maybe with was the fatigue that was settling inside of him at that moment. Maybe it was the fact that such concern came from a person that he never really talked to outside of schoolwork. No matter the reason, he decided to share his experience in the raid.

Of course, he held back on any details or events that involved One for All, but he still shared a majority of the events during the raid. Like how Mirio lost his quirk due to a quirk erasing bullet, and how Nighteye got critically wounded which led to his death. He noticed that his voice got slightly shaky towards the end, but he continued to push on through, telling her about Eri and how he saved her.

"The worst part was that I had to use her to defeat Overhaul. It shouldn't be like that!", he cried out in frustration before burying his head in his hands.

Jirou reached a hand out to him, hesitating for a second, before ultimately placing a hand on her classmate's back and began rubbing it in a soothing circular motion. She felt him stiffen at the first touch, then started to relax. They kept that position for a couple of minutes before Jirou spoke up again.

"Midoriya."

…

"Midoriya, can you look at me please?"

When the greenette reluctantly turned to face her, Jirou was met with the sight of slow tears falling from his eyes.

The class was no stranger to the tears of Izuku Midoriya. Most were shown when he was in deep gratitude, or whenever he received high praise from a teacher. Yet through it all, he would always try to smile through. It was actually quite comedic and charming. However, there was something different from this time that made her heart clench.

He wasn't smiling.

Instead, a frustrated frown was displayed as he tried to meet her eyes. She wondered how many people in the class have seen this side of Midoriya. How long was he holding these problems inside of him? She could tell that he wanted to be anywhere but here by the way his eyes started to shift towards the ground.

"I won't lie to you and say that what you went through wasn't difficult, but look at all the good you did so far! You got Todoroki to use his fire! You saved that kid at the summer camp! And as much as you hate the way things turned out, you were the one who saved that little girl."

Midoriya looked up to finally meet her eyes.

"We are still students, so you can't expect to do everything at once right now. But if you could do all that in the first year of school, then I know without a fact that you will be the best damn hero there ever was. So you can afford a break every now and then."

Midoriya could help but be in awe of his classmate's declaration. The way he said it with so much confidence and passion like it was only a matter of time before that time came. Despite the tears flowing out of his eyes at the moment, he couldn't help but turn away from her and blush at the praise while releasing a shaky smile.

Jirou wasn't much better, though her blush was just a small pink dusting her cheeks as she released an awkward cough. She couldn't believe she went so far at gushing about his accomplishments. Though as she looked back at her classmate, she could tell that it was just the thing he needed to hear. She waited until he was able to calm down before giving him some instructions.

"You ok now Green?"

"Y-yeah. Thank you Jirou. I'm sorry for pushing all of you guys away."

"Don't sweat it. You can make it up to them later. Though I do have some conditions for this weekend."

Midoriya looked uneasy at the sudden addition but nonetheless nodded for her to continue.

"For this weekend, I want you to just take it easy. Sleep in late, hang out with your friends, read a book, just do something other than training. If I even hear that you lifted a single dumbbell this weekend, I won't hesitate to jab you with my jacks to keep you on track."

Midoriya shuddered at the threat, seeing firsthand how they work whenever she used in on Kaminari.

"I promise."

"Good. And thank you for telling me this.", she then grew a smirk as she raised one of her jacks, "If you ever want to talk, I'm always happy to lend an ear."

Midoriya couldn't help but laugh out loud, the frustration and tension he was holding in finally being let go as he wiped the last of his tears away.

As the two finally separated, with Kyoka heading back to her room and Midoriya finally being able to head to the showers, Midoriya couldn't help but notice that the discomfort inside his heart was a lot lighter than before.

Chapter Text

Midoriya groggily shut off his alarm before lying awake in bed staring at the ceiling in thought.

He hated to admit it, but Jirou was right about taking a break every now and then. He didn't even realize how tired he was until he stopped training for the weekend. It was kind of embarrassing now that he had thought back on it since it was exactly what All Might warned him about when he was cleaning up the beach.

The first thing he did after he woke up that weekend was to apologize to his friends for ignoring their concerns the whole week. After that, he spent the whole day just spending time with Uraraka, Iida, and Todoroki doing whatever they wanted. Whether it was just talking around or playing games. He did notice that Jirou kept up her promise of keeping an eye on him though. As she would always look at him with a raised jack and a knowing smirk whenever he saw her. He would always blush and awkwardly look away, but after at a certain point, he thought she was just doing it to mess with him. Still, he kept his words and didn't do any training.

But now it was a school day once more. Before, he would go early in the morning to do a quick run before heading off to class. However, because his alarm was set before he took his break, he was awake in bed with plenty of time to spare. Technically, it was no longer the weekend, so he could technically go train before he had to leave for class.

But then the image of Jirou stabbing him with her jacks popped into his head, and he shuddered at the thought of betraying her after she went out of her way to help him.

…

Maybe a few more minutes in bed couldn't hurt.

(Later in the Classroom)

"Check out these moves!"

A familiar pink-colored classmate cried out before twirling and spinning in frantic, but coordinated fashion. It was surreal to Midoriya how agile and fluid Ashido's movements were, and how not a single motion was wasted. He wondered if he would ever be able to do it.

"Alright now you guys!"

He was startled as he was suddenly shoved into the spotlight alongside Aoyama, though his sparkled classmate seemed a lot more excited at the idea of being able to be seen by everyone than he was. He tried his best to try to imitate some of Ashido's moves, but he was pretty sure he was about as graceful as a fish out of water.

Thoroughly embarrassed, he headed back to his desk and sat to update Ashido's page on the moves that she used when he heard commotion towards the back.

"Speaking of hobbies, what about yours Jirou?"

Turning around he saw Jirou, Yaoyorozu, and Kaminari lingering towards the back of the classroom. Based on the conversation, he could tell that they saw Ashido's display as well as his own and Aoyama's. While he was embarrassed that they saw him, he was more curious about where the conversation was going.

"Hey, cut it out!"

"No way. Your room was like a total pro's room! Like an instrument store!"

"Can we forget the dorm contest already?!"

Midoriya started to feel uncertain about where this conversation was headed, and he could tell that Yaoyorozu felt the same way based on the expression on her face. He flinched as an ear jack was suddenly shot out, only to stop a few inches from Kaminari's face.

"I said stop!"

Jirou turned around with a flustered and frustrated expression on her face as she went towards her desk, while Kaminari was lost on what he did wrong. Though Midoriya could relate, he would rather forget the class knowing that his room was essentially a shrine for the former symbol of peace. However, he didn't know why it shook her to this extent. He would like to ask her about it but felt like he was overstepping a few boundaries.

Aside from the occasional team-ups during hero training and greetings during class, they barely knew one another. With the talk they had that night after he came from training being the most they have spoken all year. They were only acquaintances, so he felt that he had no right to barge into her own personal thoughts about what was bothering her.

And yet, didn't she do the same for him?

He didn't get much time to think about it as Aizawa walked in at that moment, sending all the students scrambling to their seats. The underground hero stared at them with his bored, yet stern gaze before announcing that they would be having a school festival here at UA.

The class erupted into cheers about having a normal school event, which Midoriya honestly shared with them. It would be a nice break from worrying about villains attacking their class or thinking about what happened at the raid.

The question now was what should the class do for the festival? There were a lot of ideas being thrown around the classroom, ranging from cafés to haunted houses. Uraraka suggested a mochi stand while he suggested a hero quiz show, though he didn't have high hopes for it to come to fruition. He was curious about what Jirou's suggestion would be based on what he had heard earlier.

"A skit", the purple-haired girl said.

He frowned. There was nothing wrong with the choice per se, but the way she had announced it. While everyone said their suggestions with such enthusiasm and energy, she said it like it was the answer to a math problem. It was such a contrast to what she sounded like that night when she confronted him that he couldn't help but wonder what was going on inside her head at the moment.

Though that would have to happen at a later time, as all the ideas were finally plastered on the board. Many of them were knocked off, but a good chunk remained for the students to work with. Unfortunately, a single decision couldn't be made between the students and had to be postponed for later.

After the long school day had ended, the 20 students were in the commons of the dorm trying to decide what to do for the festival. Some options were thrown out based on the regulations or obstacles that might have made the process more difficult. Surprisingly, it was the usually stoic Todoroki to suggested that the class sound do something that involves dancing.

"But if we do dancing, won't we need some type of music?"

"Ooh! Jirou would be perfect for this!", a set of floating clothes gestured to the girl in question, making her stumbled backward in embarrassment as Hagakure continued to shout praises.

"You always looked so happy whenever you start to play though? You should totally give it a shot!"

Jirou only stepped back as she shyly looked down while tapping the ends of her jacks together, "But, Ashido's and Sato's interests are tied to their heroics. Mine is just a hobby. It's not something that can be used."

So that's what happened when she was talking to Kaminari. The idea that your hobby is unsuited for this type of work and will only be a hindrance to your goal of being a hero.

In a way, Midoriya understood where she was coming from.

All his life, he loved looking at heroes and making theories about their quirks and moves whenever he saw them in action. He was always mocked and ridiculed by his peers for it whenever someone saw him writing in his notebook or in one of his muttering sprees. Thankfully, it wasn't as bad when he came to UA. Although, he could tell that his hobby still unnerved some of them whenever he got too into it. And as much as he hated to admit it, his hobby didn't help him become a hero when he was quirkless. At least not directly.

Yet, even when he was pushed down, he still continued on. Never giving up on his favorite pastime.

If what he saw in her dorm room and what he was hearing from Hagakure is true, then Jirou must love making music as much as he likes looking at heroes. She helped him when he needed help, so now it was time for him to return the favor.

"I-I think you should go for it."

The class all turned to him, not expecting the Midoriya of all people to speak up. He blushed slightly at the attention but continued to push on through.

"I-I think this festival would go a lot smoother if it had your help Jirou, and I know I haven't really heard you play before, s-so it might not mean much to you hearing this from me. B-but I think you can pull it off!"

He got a bit loud towards the end there, but he hoped that his message got through to her. Based on the look on her face, he could tell that she was considering it.

She looked a bit taken back by his show of faith in her abilities, with a bewildered expression displayed as the blush on her cheeks darkened by a bit. It got brighter when Kaminari and Koda jumped in as well to show their support as well.

"Midoriya is right! I think it's so cool that you can play so many instruments!"

"Your music can help make people smile, that's definitely something that you can use as a hero!"

Yaoyorozu stepped in to stop the three from completely overwhelming the girl, saying that at the end of the day, it was ultimately Jirou's decision if she got involved or not.

"I'll do it...", Jirou looked up with a bashful smile, "It wouldn't be 'rockin' to deny all those requests now, would it?"

The girl watched as the class cheered over her decision to play music in the concert. However, as her eyes drifted to Midoriya's, she found him giving her a beaming smile. She gave a small one back to show her appreciation for the gesture and reminds herself to thank Koda and Kaminari for supporting her as well. For now, she can enjoy the fact that people were willing to give her a shot and think about what she is going to do for the concert.

Chapter Text

Jirou looked down at her notebook, frustrated but kind of satisfied.

It's been a few days since the class had finalized the roles of each person for the concert. With Kaminari and Tokoyami playing with the guitars, Momo with the keyboard, Bakugo playing on the drums, and her as the vocals. (She was kind of embarrassed about the last one but didn't reject the opportunity.) While the rest were doing dancing or aesthetics for the concert.

Right now, she was working on writing notes in separate notebooks for Tokoyami and Kaminari to practice and study on. Although, she might've gotten a bit overboard with her note-taking.

She thought about getting help from Momo a few times about how to take accurate notes for someone but ultimately decided against it. She's been to a few study sessions with Momo teaching her, Mina, and a few others once before. And while she is grateful for her friend's help in her academics, her notes tend to be a bit verbose.

What she needed was something concrete and to the point, so that anyone wouldn't get lost trying to find the point she was trying to make. She raked her brain on who would be able to help her with this problem and suddenly thought of Midoriya. He was always writing in those notebooks of his during class and hero training wasn't he? Perhaps he would be able to help?

She spotted him at his desk as the break period started and didn't hesitate to head towards him.

Midoriya sighed with a small smile as the break period started, grateful for the short rest in between classes. He knew this month will start to become more hectic as time goes on, with numerous things that will have to be worked on.

For one, he will continue practicing One for All with All Might with a new method of controlling the output whenever the two had time to spare. On top of that, he and the dancing crew will be spending a good chunk of time every afternoon learning the new dance moves. Even then, their studies in academics and heroics won't waver for them even with the school festival coming up. Yet, he couldn't help but feel a bit excited about how the concert will turn out. Even Eri will be able to see them play!

"How do you smile again...?"

His smile faltered.

Even though Jirou said he was able to save her from Overhaul, he didn't feel like he did. Eri was still clinging to the ideals of Overhaul and blamed herself for the entire incident. She probably didn't even remember the last time she was able to relax and have fun. Hopefully, this concert will be just the thing to bring her out of her funk.

"Hey Midoriya."

He looked up from his desk to see Jirou heading her way towards his desk as she twirled a jack around her finger.

"I was wondering what it looks like inside those notebooks of yours since you're always writing in them. I wanted to take a look inside if that's fine with you."

He could feel his own eyes widen as an eager smile slowly started to form on his face.

His whole life, no one was interested in looking inside his hero notebooks. They either belittled him for it or thought it was creepy and wanted no part of it. This being the first time someone wanted to look, he felt nervous, but that part of him was tiny compared to the massive wave of excitement and eagerness of sharing his findings with another person.

This was a scenario that he was unprepared for, but not an unwelcome one. Although, this had to be handled in a precise, delectate manner since he didn't want to risk driving the person away. The best chance he had was to calmly ease his way into it by beginning with a conversation starter.

"IS THERE A HERO YOU WANT TO KNOW MORE ABOUT JIROU?!"

…

Or he could totally jump the gun and blurt out his intentions.

Jirou found it amusing, as the act reminded her of an excited puppy ready to play. She barely managed to school her expression, with a twitch of her lips being the only indication of her amusement.

"Not really."

The green-haired teen slightly deflated but continued to hear out her request.

"I wanted to know how to take good notes to make my point easier to come across.", She brought out her own notebook as she sheepishly scratched the back of her head, "I kind of gotten a little enthusiastic with mine and wanted some advice."

Midoriya raised an eyebrow as he took the notebook from her hand to take a look. When he opened it, he saw very detailed notes about the proper way to play. Everything from the correct finger positions and movements, to tips on how to produce certain sounds with the instrument.

"Woah. Did you write all of this? This is so cool!"

The girl slightly blushed at the praise, happy to know that her hobby was bringing joy to others.

"Thanks Green, but you still didn't give me an answer."

He blinked before chuckling sheepishly with a red hue on his cheeks as he pulled out his own hero notebook, "S-Sorry, but did you just want to look at it now, or did you need to look at it throughout the day?"

She opened her mouth to say let her take a look at it during the break period to not bother him too much when she hesitated. She knew how deep his notetaking can get whenever he really got into it. Perhaps it would be better if he was there to guide her along?

"Actually, I was thinking if you could help me as I revise and fix my notes. We could meet up later on if you want."

"O-Oh. Um, sure! I don't have anything to do after dance practice today."

"Great! I'll text you the details in a bit."

Jirou went back to her desk, glad that he didn't reject her request. While Midoriya went back to working in his hero notebook now that he had it out. He didn't get the chance to update his classmates' pages in quite a while, so he was happy to have the opportunity. Skimming over the pages, he tried to see if anything needed updating. He already filled in the addition of Ashido's move set when she got the chance to dance and the boy racked his brain to try to remember if there were any new moves or skills to be added when he started thinking of Jirou again. Come to think of it, she mentioned something about being able to detect lies through hearing someone's heartbeat when she confronted him. He wondered how effective it was.

A thought occurred to him, and he suddenly grew pale. If she could detect any lie, did she know about his quirk?

Midoriya already knew he was an awful liar, so trying to fool her is just another incident waiting to happen. Although, he made it this far into the year and she never personally asked him about it despite the numerous opportunities to do so. He was still anxious about the whole ordeal when he got a message from his phone.

Jirou: Was thinking that we could do our notebook session in my room after practice and dinner if that's ok with you?

Midoriya: Sure! Just tell me whenever you're ready

Midoriya sighed as he put the phone back in his pocket, already feeling his heart start to mellow out with the distraction only to hammer in his chest once again as his face turned a bright red.

'A girl invited me to her room! By myself! And I agreed!'

After dinner and a quick shower, he got the message from Jirou that she was ready to begin if he was. Although the safest option would probably be to decline and reschedule, Midoriya felt like he was already too far in to back out now. Rescheduling made him feel guilty at denying her request after she went through the effort of showing her notebook to him.

He nervously knocked on her door before Jirou opened it with a bashful look on her face. He was just grateful that he was able to avoid any of the other girls on the way up.

The greenette blushed deeply before moving his head to the side so that she wouldn't face her directly, thoroughly embarrassed.

Jirou wasn't doing much better.

Of course, she knew this was way too close for comfort for either of them, but she honestly couldn't think of a better location for them to work in during the school week.

The dorm commons were a no-go since she was pretty sure that most of their classmates will be there relaxing after a long day of academics and concert practice. The school library would be close during this time as well, and even if it wasn't, the quiet atmosphere would probably be more of an obstacle than a benefit seeing as communication will be needed.

Which led her to offer up her room for a study session.

She could tell that Midoriya was just as awkward about the idea as she was if the blushing red face all throughout class meant anything. She doesn't think he realized what he agreed to until after he sent the message. Although, she had to admit that Midoriya was probably the safest bet if she had to invite a boy to her room.

"You know we don't have to do this today if you want to Green."

"N-No, you needed help, so it would be rude if I backed out now..."

She looked at him for a moment and listened to his heart to see if he was telling the truth before reluctantly sighing, "If you say so...", already knowing how stubborn he could be once he puts his mind to something, "Did you bring your notes?"

"Y-Yeah, but I was wondering if you could answer some questions for me as well...", he paused before shaking his hands around nervously. "Only if you're ok with it though!"

She chuckled at his bashfulness as she stepped aside to let him in, "Sure, it's only fair."

The two made their way inside, with Midoriya looking around the room in slight awe. Despite the anxiousness he was feeling at the moment at the thought of being in another girl's room, still amazed him that Jirou was able to play all of these instruments. He saw her room when the class had done the dorm room contest when they first moved in, and couldn't help but be impressed.

Unfortunately, the girl noticed the look and took it the wrong way. "Yeah, I know, it's not a room that a 'typical girl' would have.", she said with a slight scowl as she remembered the comment Aoyama and Kaminari made when she first showed off her room.

"N-No! I wasn't thinking that at all! I was just thinking about how cool it was that you could play all these instruments!"

"Only the basics for some...", she grumbled as she shyly tapped jacks together. After seeing all the other girls' rooms during the dorm contest, she grew a bit self-conscious after the two blondes' comments. She was kind of flattered that he was still nervous being around her as much as he was with the other girls but quickly shook away those thoughts. He was here to help with notes.

She decided to just sit on the floor with Midoriya to look over their notebooks, as being in the bed with another girl would probably make his brain melt. With the two of them sitting across from one another.

"I heard from Ochaco that you had notes on us. Do you mind if I take a look?"

Here, Midoriya's unease skyrocketed once more as Jirou's expectant look met his eyes. He was hesitant to show her since most seemed uneasy with his analysis of themselves whenever he showed them. He nervously flipped to her page and handed her the notebook as he turned his face away from her.

"Woah..."

Midoriya winced at the phrase, already expecting to be chastised on his analysis of her. Looking away from her, he missed the look of amazement that was shown on her face.

Jirou scanned her page as she tried to focus on the structure of the notes rather than the material but failed to do so numerous times before ultimately deciding to read it. Along with a pretty decent drawing of her in her hero suit, there were also numerous ideas and questions about her quirk. Everything from potential fighting styles and new moves to equipment suggestions. She blushed when she saw that he wrote 'Amazing Singer' under special skills.

She looked up to say something but halted upon seeing his state. He was gripping the cloth of his shorts tightly as he kept his head down and away from her. The sight was oddly familiar to Jirou, but she couldn't think of why at the moment.

"Midoriya, this is amazing."

The boy looked up, not believing what he was hearing at the moment as he took in the look on her face. She didn't look like she was lying, but he still wanted to make sure, "You... don't think it's weird?", he asked uncertainly.

"I mean... it's certainly kind of… 'different'...", the freckled boy winced as Jirou quickly waved off his concerns, "but if you think about it, everyone here has a unique quality or hobby. Mina has her dancing that she's teaching you, Kirishima's involves 'manliness' in almost anything he does, and I have my music." She gestured towards her room to demonstrate her point before facing him once more. "Plus, I am the one who asked to look at your notes for help. So I wouldn't make fun of you for it."

The boy looked up to see her giving him a soft, reassuring smile that made the anxious knot in his stomach unravel.

"Now then, you said you had some questions for me?", she said with a smirk and a raised eyebrow as she pointed to a section on his notes that was asking about the lie-detection method she used.

Immediately, the earlier stress and tension he had inside of him dissipated as his curiosity for her skill and quirk took over and caused him to beam in excitement. "Oh yeah! I was wondering how it worked since I've never seen you use it before that night. I mean, I've seen the way you use your quirk throughout the school year and this method didn't look like anything that I've seen before. You weren't even plugged into anything now that I think about it..."

The girl watched as his classmate started muttering questions about the technique she used on him that night. It was a familiar sight that the class has seen whenever he witnessed a new move during training, often zoning out the world around him as he hurriedly scribbled inside his notebook. Yet this was the first time that she was able to see it up close.

As she held up the notebook, she noticed that his left twitched occasionally as if they yearned for something to hold onto. While his right hand repeatedly tapped against his chin as ideas and comments flowed out of his mouth at a rapid pace. It was an amusing sight to her, but they weren't going to get anywhere if he didn't snap out of it.

"Hey mophead", She extended one of her jacks to tap him on the forehead, making him jolt and blush in embarrassment as the girl smirked, "You didn't even give me a chance to answer."

The boy's blush on his face only deepened as the smirk on the sound-based heroine grew, but as much as she enjoyed seeing her classmate's attempt to resemble a tomato, she needed to answer his questions so that she could get to work on writing her notes for her band.

She twirled a jack around her finger as she answered, "My hearing is strong enough to hear faint sounds even if I'm not directly plugged into something, which includes heartbeats. Usually, the heart is steady whenever they are saying something truthful, though it is tougher to tell whenever someone is nervous and their heart is beating really fast. However, the heart stops for a split second, or stutters, whenever someone tries to lie.", She paused in her explanation as she looked at him in the eyes, "That's how I knew you lied to Iida when you came back. Your heartbeat was calm, but it stuttered when you said you were fine."

Midoriya took in the information with a small nod. Now wanting to write in his notebook knowing her technique. Yet, that raises the question of her delayed confrontation. It had been nearly an entire week before she made the decision to wait on him after his training. Why had she waited that long?

The confused look was not lost on Jirou, as a grimace made its way onto her face as she looked off to the side. "This method... is not usually something I like to do with my day-to-day stuff. Since I know that everyone has their own secrets that they would like to keep to themselves every now and then. I really only confronted you because I saw how far you were pushing yourself."

Now it was the boy's turn to grimace at the reminder of how far he ignored his peers and pushed himself. Last time, it was All Might who had to step in and force him to take a break after pushing himself to clean the beach as fast as he could. He wondered how far he would've gone this time if she hadn't stepped in.

"W-well, thank you for getting me to take a break once and a while.", he gave a small chuckle, "Sometimes I get a little too lost in my thoughts every once a while."

The girl chuckled back, agreeing with his statement after seeing the muttering spree a few moments ago. The two gave each other soft smiles after their bout of laughter, the tension and stress between the two earlier have all but vanished, leaving behind content and pleasant atmosphere.

Midoriya scooted closer to her after grabbing his notebook back, with Jirou grabbing her own and doing the same as the greenette started describing his note-taking methods while the girl dutifully took notes. They were so focused on the books in front of them, that they missed the faint blushes on the other's cheeks.

After a while, a comfortable silence was reached, with the scribbling of pencil hitting paper being the only sound in the room. Jirou looked over to Midoriya to see him eagerly scribbling on her page. She never would have thought that hanging out with Midoriya would actually be pretty fun. While she usually hung out with Momo and Kaminari, she definitely wouldn't mind hanging out with him again sometime. It was a nice change of pace from her usual conversations with the sparkling dolt and her high-class friend.

He was a massive dork, but that wasn't necessarily a bad thing. Although it took some time to get the ball rolling, his quirky gestures and flustered expressions were always amusing to her whenever they happened. His perky attitude made this usually boring task of taking notes interesting. It made her wonder why they never spoke to each other before she had asked to take a look inside his notebook.

Taking a quick glance at it, she saw that he was filling out her page with the new information about the lie-detection. Although her cheeks reddened slightly when she saw the 'Amazing singer' part again, the sight made her think about the time that he encouraged her to play instruments for the concert.

"Hey Midoriya."

He paused in his writing to look at her with a questioning gaze.

"Not that I don't appreciate you for doing so, but why did you encourage me to play and teach instruments for the concert. I mean...I know that Kaminari and Koda heard me in the classroom and known me longer, but yours seemed to come out of nowhere."

The boy was a bit taken back by the question, though he supposed he shouldn't have been as his support did seem a bit random. "W-Well, when I heard what Kaminari and Hagakure talk about how much you liked to play your instruments, it reminded me a lot of myself and my n-notebooks", he said as he closed the notebook that he was writing and rubbed the cover gingerly with his thumb and a soft gaze, "I didn't like that you were so quick to downplay what you loved to do."

"You may not know this Jirou, but you were the first person who asked to take a look at my notebooks, even if it was just to see how I wrote them.", he looked at her shyly before continuing, "I thought that everyone saw my hobby as weird, so I don't try to bother them with it. So it made me really happy when you said you wanted to see them."

Jirou looked at Midoriya with a slightly shocked look, surprised that he felt the same when it came to introducing others of their hobbies. She saw that he was uneasy when she was looking through his notebook earlier, but she didn't think it was such a big deal to him. It was nice to know despite their differences in personality and power between them, they were able to find some common ground.

"Well, I'm glad to know that someone who can level a building felt the same as me when it comes to sharing their hobbies with others."

They shared a smile to each other before the purple-haired girl noticed how late it was becoming by the time on her alarm clock.

"So, are we meeting at the same time tomorrow?"

Midoriya froze as his hand was about to touch the doorknob, a bit startled by the question. He thought this session was a 'one and done' kind of thing since she technically could now do the rest on her own.

"N-Not that I'm saying no, but did you need more help on the notes?"

Jirou blinked as he took in the words from the greenette and her own mouth. She didn't even register that she offered him to come back to her room again, she just spoke without thinking. Their time together was just so enjoyable that she didn't even think about how he might feel about it. Blushing slightly at her inconsiderate gesture, she shyly averted her gaze away from him with an awkward cough before she answered.

"W-Well, I only got through a third of Tokoyami's notes, and I wondering if you can help me walk through the rest of them...", she took a glanced to see him slightly surprised, "but only if you wanted to! If not, we could end it here tonight." She finished as she tried to hide the disappointment in her voice.

Midoriya felt a warmth in his chest grow as he looked back with a slightly surprised expression and a tint of red dusting his cheeks. Truth be told, he enjoyed hanging out with his musical classmate. Their conversations together felt totally different whenever he compared them to Iida, Todoroki, or even Uraraka. He wasn't exactly sure what the difference was at that point in time, all that he knew was that he wanted more of it.

"I... I would be glad to Jirou...", he said with a shy smile.

The girl looked back with a shy smile of her own before she got up to nudge him in the shoulder with a fist as a smirk grew.

"Good. Now get some rest. I don't need you falling asleep in class."

Midoriya laughed as he finally opened the door to let himself out. Pausing as he stepped out to say goodbye.

"Goodnight Jirou."

"Goodnight Green."

The door finally closed before he made his way towards his room. His heart still beating after that whole exchange, though he couldn't tell whether it was from excitement or nervousness. All he knew was that he had another session with her tomorrow after class.

And oddly enough, he looked forward to it.

Chapter Text

Midoriya sat through classes the next day with a bit of nervousness and excitement as he waited for the heroics class to begin. Though that wasn't due to the class itself, but rather what came after classes and their rehearsal for the festival ended.

Truth be told, while he enjoyed helping Jirou with notes for her band and hanging out with her in her room, he still didn't know what to make of the whole situation. Since he never really hung out with anyone else before, let alone with a girl who he never talked to before aside from a nightly talk and passing greetings.

This was a normal thing to do, wasn't it?

He never really 'hung out', with anyone since he and Bakugo stopped being friends when they were kids. He really only started to remember what that was like when he made it to UA, and even then it was always in a group.

Unfortunately, his dilemma would have to be on pause for the moment, as All Might and Aizawa walked in to announce where the students will be headed.

Jirou looked on a monitor as Midoriya, Shoji, Sero, and Todoroki were around a collapsed building doing a mock search and rescue, going through all the procedures thoroughly and efficiently before Aizawa called them back to discuss their work.

The sound-based heroine noticed that there were a lot of rescues and searching-based lessons going on for a while, and while she didn't mind the extra work in a specific field, she had a feeling of the reason for this decision. It was probably due to the recent raid that her classmates were found in.

It didn't take a genius to know that the raid was one of the more intense operations that the four had to go through. Heck, if the others went through even half of what Midoriya went through, she could understand the need to prepare the others if there were more of these types of scenarios in the future.

The four must've had a decent review, as they headed back towards the rest of the class with content smiles and laughter between each other. She had to admit that it was comforting seeing Midoriya laugh with their classmates, free from the burden that was plaguing him the week before.

Once the four returned, the next four students were called to run. Which happened to be Tokoyami, Bakugo, Ochaco, and Momo. How that will turn out she had no idea, but she knew she didn't have to wait too long to find out.

Midoriya made his way towards her after wishing Ochaco and Todoroki good luck and stood beside her. She slightly turned towards him with a slight smile and a raised fist to give him a fist bump, "Good job out there. While I couldn't really hear what you guys were saying, I'm could tell that Aizawa had some good things to say."

He looked a bit surprised at the sudden praise but nonetheless returned the gesture with a slight smile and a stammer of thanks before they both continued to watch the screen. They were both content with that as they watched their classmates go through the same scenario as the previous team. Although, she noticed that Midoriya was fidgeting as he took glances towards her from the corner of her eye. She was about to ask what was going on with him when he spoke up.

"A-Are we still meeting up in your room after practice?", he looked like he was about to die in embarrassment, but he still managed to lean over to hear so that his whisper was only heard by her, "I-I just wanted to make sure."

Jirou's face also flared up a bit at the question, though it was mostly due to how the question was asked. Normally she wouldn't hesitate to jab the person with her jacks if they made an innuendo of any sort during a conversation, yet she could tell that the way Midoriya looked like he wanted to die under a rock that he didn't mean anything by it. She must've given him a certain look though, as he suddenly paled and flailed his arms in front of him in panic.

"I-I d-didn't mean anything by it! I swear!", Midoriya's voice slightly rose in panic seeing the look Jirou was giving him, "It's just that I didn't know if you happened to change your mind and wanted to make sure. Although... I probably could've checked in with you through... the phone..."

Midoriya's eyes trailed off as he seemed to have a moment of realization and facepalmed himself, causing Jirou to stifle some chuckles. While it did confuse her how her classmate was such a worrywart when he had such a powerful quirk, she did admit that it had a certain charm to his character.

After finally managing to calm her small laughing fit, she looked at him with a smile to ward off any lingering worries that he may have.

"If you're up for it, then yes. I got a bit of it done during our free period today, and I was hoping that you could look over it.", she then noticed how he looked a bit uncomfortable during her offer, "But if you want, we can hold it off until we can find somewhere else if it makes you uncomfortable."

The boy faltered a bit after hearing that and finally looked at his classmate with his full attention. He didn't see any anger or disappointment on her face after she said that, only looking at him with concern. He thought about her statement and asked himself: Was he uncomfortable with this?

Surprisingly, after thinking about it he found that the answer to that was no. He wasn't uncomfortable with it. While the whole experience was still so brand new to him, he found that he really enjoyed spending time with Jirou and helping with her notes.

With a small smile of his own, he looked back towards his classmate with the tension in his shoulders loosening and a face devoid of any of the nervousness that he displayed earlier.

"No... I don't mind. We can still meet up like last time.", he blushed a bit before adding in, "I-If you are ok with that."

Jirou's face softened at his answer, happy to see that Midoriya didn't look like he was forced to do this against his will.

"Sounds like a plan."

They both shared a smile with one another before shifting their attention back towards the screen to watch their classmates perform. Looking forward to the upcoming study session after rehearsal.

Midoriya was nervous when he started to head off to Jirou's room again once practice was finished, but not as much as he was yesterday when she first made the offer and after their talk during the hero course.

Making over to her room, he knocked on the door and waited for Jirou to invite him in.

Jirou peeked out of her bedroom as a light blush dusted her cheeks as she looked on both ends of the hall before opening the door for her classmate to enter. "Hey, no one saw you coming up here, did they?"

Taken a bit back by the sudden question, he looked at her with a confused expression before confirming and entering. "No... why?"

She wasn't having second thoughts about meeting up with him, was she? Maybe a bit embarrassed to be seen with him? His heart clenched a bit after that thought but was relieved when she shook her head.

"No reason.", she said before she paused and her blush deepened a bit, "Well, not no reason per se. I just know that Mina and Toru would have a field day if they heard that I invited you to my room. They kind of go crazy for that type of stuff."

Midoriya winced before nodding in understanding, knowing that Kaminari and Mineta would also be interested if they ever heard that he's been meeting up with a girl in her room after school.

"Y-Yeah, I can see that happening.", he said before looking at her uncertainly, "I won't say anything to anyone if you don't want me to."

The girl looked at him in thought before shaking her head, "N-Nah, I trust you. I won't stop you if you really want to tell someone.", she cleared her throat awkwardly, "Besides, it's not like we're doing anything wrong. Just two people sharing notes."

Midoriya nodded awkwardly as he sat down across from her on the floor like he did the previous day. With a couple of notebooks still in his hand as she went to grab her own. Though he couldn't help but notice the music playing in the background. It wasn't so loud that it overpowered their voices whenever they spoke, but it was still noticeable in the quiet room. He couldn't help but tap his finger on his knee to the beat of the song, with Jirou smirking as she saw the action when she made her way back to him.

"I see you like the music. Glad to know you got some good taste."

Midoriya could only chuckle as he rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, "Yeah, I just never heard that song before. I don't really listen to music that often enough to know what is good and what is not."

"Nice to know I can broaden your tastes during these sessions.", Jirou said as she sat down across from him, "They are from Deep Dope, a band that I have been listening to for a long time now."

While Midoriya wasn't really knowledgeable about anything music-related, he was a bit interested to see what Jirou was into now that the opportunity arose.

"R-Really? That's pretty cool. Maybe you can show me some of your favorite songs?"

Jirou was a bit surprised that he took an interest in hearing about his favorite band, but didn't see anything wrong with sharing. After all, he shared his own experience with his notes. She looked around her room with a fond expression.

"I'm been listening to these guys for as long as I can remember. It was just something about the way they made their rhythms and beats in their song that drew me into it..."

Midoriya remained silent as he took in her descriptions and details, and noticed how her expression seemed to brighten up as she continued talking about her favorite band and the kind of songs that she listened to. He had never seen her speak so adamantly about something before, though that could've just been because of the fact that they never really talked before having these sessions. It kind of reminded him about the way he spoke about heroes now that he thought about it.

Jirou seemed to just now notice his silence as she stopped talking with a blush slowly growing onto her face. It made him wonder if he somehow made her uncomfortable.

"Sorry. You probably don't want to hear all this.", she said with a bit of an embarrassed expression.

Midoriya frantically waved his arms thinking he did something wrong.

"N-No! I do! I was just taking it all in!"

He noticed that she didn't look too convinced at his plea and awkwardly avoided his gaze towards the ground.

"As I said before, I don't really know anything about music so everything you say is brand new to me."

He then thought about the detailed notes that Jirou had in her notebooks. Filled to the brim with various tips and techniques for the various different band members.

"But it's nice to know what you are into. I think it's pretty cool that you know so much about music."

"Sure.", Jirou huffed out. Yet if Midoriya was looking, he would've seen the bashful smile that went across her face as she subtly took glances at her study partner. It was then that she noticed how much time the two had spent talking about her favorite band and decided to get back on track.

"If you want, we can talk some more afterward, but we really need to get started."

Midoriya jumped a bit at the sudden switch in topics but didn't comment on it as Jirou went to the page that she last wrote in as Midoriya moved in closer to get a better look at her notes. With the two not noticing how close they were sitting to each other.

Jirou must be getting better at this note-taking thing because they didn't spend nearly as long as they did yesterday correcting her formatting. But that was fine with them, as it gave them the chance to listen for some more of her favorite band.

Midoriya seemed to take it well if the constant humming of certain rhythms and beats often escaped from his lips when he was looking through his own notebook. Jirou smirked at the thought of another person listening to her style of music, as Momo already asked a couple of questions of her own during practice about the kind of music she listened to.

"You know, if I knew we were going to be hanging out as much we are, you could've been a member of the band for the concert."

Midoriya seemed a bit interested as he perked up a bit, but then his gaze then turned a bit sad as he awkwardly looks away from Jirou as he rubbed his right arm with his left.

"I don't think that's a good idea...", the boy in front of her said softly.

Jirou was confused about the statement until her eyes seemed to follow his gaze towards his hands, with her eyes widening in realization as he took in the numerous scars on his right hand.

While Midoriya never said anything to the others, it was clear that there were lingering effects of his injuries. Like how slightly crooked his right hand looked compared to his left, or the way he would clench and unclench it if he was writing for too long.

Jirou reached out to get a better view when she stopped herself, not wanting to make him uncomfortable. Though based on the way Midoriya's eyes widened, he already noticed her attempt.

They stared at each other in silence for a moment, not sure what to say to each other about the sudden awkward atmosphere. Though Jirou was the first to break it as she bit her lip nervously and asked, "Do you mind if I get a closer look?"

Midoriya's eyes widened momentarily at the question, thinking about how he can change the topic in any way to prevent her from seeing. Yet this was mostly based on fear of what her reaction may be upon seeing them. Would she be afraid? Disgusted that he pushed himself so far to the point of injury? Angry that he left it go on for so long?

'But...'

His eyes drifted towards his study partners', and only saw concern in those amethyst eyes of hers. Didn't she already try to help him before? On the night she confronted him about pushing himself too far?

Hesitantly, he uncovered the hand that was covering the scars as the girl Jirou gingerly took it into her own. With her slowly tracing the scars as a frown was plastered on her face as Midoriya blushed as he looked away from her.

'Her hand is soft...'

Jirou finally looked up from his hand and into his eyes as a frown continued to form on her face, "Does it still hurt?"

The greenette peeked at her from the corner of his eye, but still didn't completely face her as he answered. Yet he could still feel the concern off of her.

"O-Only when I work on something for too long.", he answered shyly, "That's why I've been doing more kicks recently."

Jirou only hummed at his answer, still looking at his hand in thought. While she was impressed at the lengths that he would go to save someone, she didn't like that it took such a nasty toll on him. He always seemed to be carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders, working harder than anyone to become a hero. She's is thankful that he found another option to prevent more injuries like this one, but didn't like that he seemed to be doing this alone.

"I'm glad that you found another way to fight Midoriya,", the girl said as Midoriya's attention turned back towards her, "But you know you don't have to do this alone right? You can tell me or our classmates anything, we're friends."

After that Midoriya stilled, looking at her in a bit of surprise. While they have been getting closer with one another, he thought this was a temporary arrangement. With them going their separate ways after he had finished helping her with her notes.

"Friends...?"

Jirou huffed as he took her arms back away from the boy, copying the action of the boy earlier and rubbing her arm awkwardly as a slight blush appeared.

"I like to think we are...", she winced a bit in guilt, "I know we didn't usually talk before I confronted you that night. But after everything our class has been through, I feel like it's appropriate no?"

Midoriya considered her thoughts, and after thinking about it for a moment he realized she was right. While some interactions in the class didn't happen as often as they would like, it could go without saying that the numerous dangers made Class- 1A a closely knitted bunch. Midoriya knew that he would be devastated if he found out that one of his classmates was captured or seriously injured out in the field. Heck, a couple of them broke rules to get Bakugo out of the hands of the enemy.

"Yeah... we are friends...", Midoriya said with a small smile that slowly grew as he looked at her in confidence, "And... I will try to remember not to push myself so hard."

Jirou's unease vanished, as a growing smile of her own started to form as well. "And don't worry about the instrument thing. Maybe I can find something for you to play."

Midoriya chuckled sheepishly, though he couldn't lie that a part of him was looking forward to see what she comes up with. Though that was when they both realized how much time has passed and that curfew was just around the corner.

Midoriya gathered up his things as he headed towards her door, with the two of them saying their farewells before the door closed shut.

As Midoriya started to head back to his room, he thought about the encounter with his newfound friend. Although he supposed that they were already friends before this, but the reassurance still filled his heart with joy. He blushed deeply when he thought of the time she held his hand, and at how soft it was. This was probably a friend thing, right? Although he couldn't recall doing anything of the sort with Todoroki, Iida, or even Uraraka. Shaking away those thoughts, he entered his room to get prepared for bed.

Jirou wasn't doing much better, as she started to lean against the door with a groan and a red face the moment it was closed. It wasn't like the conversation went bad; she just couldn't believe that he held his hand for so long. She didn't know what came over her at that moment, but something in her heart just ached whenever she saw the boy try to hide his problems from her.

The girl doesn't know why she reacted so differently to Midoriya whenever the two of them were alone, as she couldn't recall her ever reacting that way with Momo or Kaminari. It was a totally different atmosphere when the two were together, but she could say that she didn't hate it. She gave an amused huffed as she shut off the music and prepared for bed, unsure of how the rest of the week will turn out.

Chapter Text

(UA Cafeteria: Midoriya's table)

The cafeteria was buzzing with the constant chatter of students as they ate their lunch, all while Midoriya sat looking through his notebook with his meal untouched in front of him.

By now the first week of practice has passed, and already the class have made some improvements in their routines for the festival. Midoriya was still a bit stiff at times, but he could tell that his movements were a bit more fluid than they were when he first started practicing his dance routine. And the band has been improving on their performance as well if what Jirou said to him about her sessions with her team were true.

A smile unknowingly grew on his face as he thought about his new friend. Unfortunately, after the first two initial visits, they only have been able to meet with each other every other day. Though that wasn't a bad thing, as they have now been able to talk to each other more freely during class without the awkwardness hindering their conversations.

Getting over the fact of them being alone in a room together made it much easier for them to talk to one another outside of class, with Midoriya commenting on her actions during heroics training and her asking about note-taking for her band numerous times during the day. The class mostly took these conversations as friends preparing for the festival, as everyone was placed in groups with people that they usually didn't associate with.

Of course, Midoriya was still a bit anxious about meeting the girl alone in her room, but he was able to overcome that small barrier and help her along with her notes.

Jirou was mostly done writing her notes for her team, with only the finishing touches that the boy needed to check on before she was done. Though a part of him was a bit disappointed at the fact that they wouldn't be able to meet up again after he signed off on her work. As they will be focusing on their own aspects of the festival to work on.

He was so into his thoughts and musings that he failed to notice his friends approach the table he was sitting on. Uraraka and Todoroki sat on either side of him while Iida sat across from him before they said started to dig into their meals.

Uraraka was about to take a bite when she noticed that Midoriya was still looking inside his notebook while tapping his foot on the ground to some unknown beat. She poked his shoulder which startled him a bit before giving her a sheepish smile and putting his notebook away.

"S-Sorry about that Uraraka."

"It's fine Deku!" she said with a beaming smile before a slightly concerned expression formed, "Although I haven't seen you around most afternoons again."

Iida nodded sharply, "Yes, I hope that you are getting enough rest."

While Todoroki said nothing, his eyes were asking his friend the same question as he slurped some of the noodles in his bowl.

Midoriya blushed a bit in embarrassment, though he was also grateful for their concerns over his wellbeing.

"Yes I am, it's just that uh..."

How was he supposed to describe his sessions with Jirou? Jirou did say that she didn't mind if he told anyone, and the two technically didn't do anything wrong as they only studied and shared notes with one another. But how was he supposed to explain the fact that they were meeting in her room alone? Iida would probably have a cow at the idea of boy and girl being left unsupervised. But this was a normal thing that friends do, right? He didn't know how anyone else would react to it as well. Maybe he should tell a half-truth?

"I've just been studying a whole lot! Since you never know when there might be a quiz you know?"

"I see..." Ilida said while stroking his chin, "You might have some truth in that Midoriya! We haven't had a quiz in any of our classes lately," the speed-based hero finished with some chops of his hands.

"Hm, I should probably brush up on my history now that I think about it..." Uraraka trailed off as she glanced down at her plate in thought.

Meanwhile, Midoriya sighed in relief. While he didn't like lying to his friends, he didn't know how would anyone would react to his meet-ups with Jirou after school. While he suppressed a shudder at the thought of Mineta or Kaminari finding out, he noticed that Todoroki didn't say anything about it during the whole conversation.

Taking a glance to his right, he saw that Todoroki was looking at him with a questioning gaze. Almost like he knew that something was up about the statement. Eventually, he turned away from Midoriya and continued eating his noodles as he listened to the other two as the conversation turned into more discussions about what may come up in class.

Midoriya wondered what that look was about, but ultimately dismissed it as he joined his friends in the conversation.

(UA Cafeteria: Jirou's Table)

Jirou looked down at her final notebook while tapping her pencil to a rhythm that was recently roaming around in her head. She was grateful for Midoriya's help, as the task of finishing them would've taken much longer if it weren't for him.

Although now she had to think of what the band will perform for the concert. They probably could play a popular song that everyone knows for the festival, but as a member of the Jirou family that had a passion for all things involving music, it felt a bit tacky.

There was a certain beat and rhythm that was floating inside of her head for a while, but for the life of her, she couldn't think of any lyrics to put down. But that was a problem for a later Jirou, as now she wanted to focus on getting her final notebook for Midoriya to check.

She glanced up for a second to see Momo and Kaminari making their way toward her table and gave them a small wave. Usually, it was just her and Momo sitting at the same table, but they would get occasional visits from the Kaminari, Tsuyu, and Mina every now and then.

"Man, I'm so pumped up for this festival! I feel like I'm finally starting to get the hang of it now!" Kaminari with a big grin as he sat down across from Jirou with Momo sitting next to her.

Jirou couldn't help but let a small smirk graze her face as she looked at Kaminari in amusement, "If only you were as passionate about keeping your grades up."

"Come on! Was that really necessary?"

Yaoyorozu had a slight smile as she listened to the banter of her two band members before looking down at the notebook that her friend was writing in, recognizing it as one of the notebooks that the team used whenever they had to practice.

"Another one Kyoka? How many are you going to make?"

The girl looked confused for a moment before following her friend's gaze to the notebook in her hands. Realizing that her friend was looking at the notebook she was making for Tokoyami.

"This should be the last one before we can start playing some real music."

The blonde at the table looked confused before realizing a fact about his instructor, "Oh! That's why you've been gone after every practice session! You were probably writing all of our notes huh?"

Jirou averted her haze as she felt a small blush start to form on her cheeks after hearing Kaminari's question. For someone who was struggling in academics, he sure can be quite observant when he wanted to.

While it was true that she was busy writing notes after band practice, she was also meeting up with Midoriya in her room every now and then. While the two did talk mostly about her notes and how she should display them, they also talked about their favorite hobbies.

Midoriya gave her a few tips on her quirk, such as increasing her heartbeat before an attack to increase its output or some new improvements on her hero costume. While she never thought of that since her heart already beats pretty quickly due to her doing activities during an attack, he gave her some other methods for her to try out when she got the chance.

Jirou on the other hand got the chance to introduce him to her style of music by letting him hear some of her all-time favorite songs. Which the green-haired boy was instantly a fan of, even going as far as to tap the beat and rhythm whenever she caught him tapping his pen or foot during class. She would be lying if she said there wasn't a part of her that looked forward to these sessions with the green-haired boy.

"Y-Yeah, but after I'm done, we can start playing a song for the festival."

"Oh man! I can't wait to finally play a song!" Kaminari exclaimed while pretending to play a guitar.

Momo also couldn't hold in her excitement, looking at her Jirou with an eager expression, "I also am excited to see what Kyoka will sing for the concert. I'm sure whatever she chooses to sing will be an excellent choice for the audience to enjoy"

Jirou could only give a lopsided smile before it turned into a frown that went unnoticed by the other two as they started to eat their meals.

'I just wished I knew what that choice was...'

(Ground Beta)

The students were once again out in the field where they first had done the battle trials way back at the beginning of the year. With the students quickly found themselves in front of Aizawa about to describe today's lesson.

"Today is all about infiltration. There will be times when heroes are forced to enter a villain's hideout to capture or rescue.", he said looking out to the class while eying the four who were involved in the raid, "While I would've liked to do this before the work studies, it's better late than never to prepare you guys. A team of four will enter a long building and make it to the other side as fast as possible to end. The first ones up will be Midoriya, Uraraka, Jirou, and Shoji. You guys have 5 minutes to make a plan and enter."

Midoriya couldn't help but feel a bit nervous at the task. As the long, gray warehouse was eerily similar to the one that he infiltrated to rescue Eri. Sure, he had already done a real-life scenario before in his work-study, yet that only seemed to make his nerves skyrocket. What if he wasn't fast enough and didn't reach the target on time? What if he slowed down his teammates? What if he failed?

He was brought out of his thoughts when someone suddenly nudged his side with an elbow. And was met with a pair of purple eyes looking at him in concern, "Hey don't worry. You already did it for real in your work-study, so this is just a refresher," she then looked at him with a firm expression as she nudged his shoulder with a closed fist, "You got this."

Midoriya felt his heart pick up at Jirou's vote of confidence in his ability. He could also feel the knot in his stomach and the tension in his arms loosen as he watched the purplette give him a smirk.

"I would also say 'break a leg', but knowing you, you may actually try to make it happen. So I think I will just go for the traditional 'good luck' this time around."

Even though his face heated up in embarrassment, he couldn't help but let out a laugh as the last of his worries finally melted away. He was still getting used to Jirou's blunt nature and wit, though he came to find it enjoyable whenever the two talked to one another. Giving her a quick thanks for the support, the two made their way toward their teammates who were already waiting for the exercise to start.

Being one of the last ones to show up for the exercise, he saw their two other teammates waiting for them to arrive. With Shoji looking at the two new arrivals with a single nod that gained Uraraka's attention.

"Hey Deku!" Uraraka beamed toward the green-haired teen with an eager smile, "What took you so long?"

The boy rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, sort of embarrassed that he made the other two members of his team wait for him because of his troubles. "Sorry I kept you guys waiting, I was just talking to Jirou for a bit before heading here."

Uraraka nodded as she tilted her head a bit in confusion, curious about what the two must've been talking about that caused them to be late to join them. "Oh ok... What were you guys talking about?"

Midoriya opened up his mouth to speak, but the arrival of their teacher stopped any chance of conversation from starting.

"Alright, this obstacle course was made to try to simulate a raid, there will be numerous robots waiting to ambush you all as you make your way through the building. Your task is to get to the other side of the as fast as you can to rescue the hostage as fast as you can."

Midoriya looked uncertainly at the long narrow hallway, wondering what was the best course of action would be best for this type of scenario. And was startled when the familiar sight of his gravity-powered friend suddenly up in front of his face with a big eager smile on her face.

"Do you have a plan to get through this? You always have some sort of idea whenever it comes to these types of things Deku!"

The boy blushed at the sudden proximity of his best friend and looked at his other teammates for what they thought of the situation at hand. Surprisingly, Jirou and Shoji were looking at him with a raised eyebrow, seemingly having the same line of thinking as Uraraka. Making him swallow nervously.

Did they really have that much faith in his abilities?

Yet as he looked over to Jirou, he could see that while she was still curious about what his answer will be, her gaze had softened a bit to show support for his decision no matter what the choice will it be. Her gaze went unnoticed by the others since she was standing behind them, but Midoriya didn't fail to miss it.

He then thought of his encounter with her before they moved toward their assignment and the absolute trust that she displayed through her firm expression.

'You got this.'

Midoriya took a deep breath before looking down the long narrow hallway, thinking of the best possible route and method for them to take with as little trouble as possible. The main problem they had going forward was not knowing where the robots were going to pop out. But a quick look at Shoji and Jirou gave him an idea, and he quickly called the team closer to explain his plan. Unknown to him at the time, his unease from earlier had completely vanished as he went to describe his plan with a determined gaze that the class was used to seeing.

One that a certain purplette looked at with a fond smile.

With only two minutes remaining before they had to enter, the team quickly got into action as they prepared themselves to enter the building.

"Are you guys ready?"

Midoriya saw resolute nods from his teammates as they quickly got in position. With Midoriya, Uraraka, and Shoji waiting by the entrance as Jirou stepped up to the open doorway. The sound-based hero didn't wait and quickly crouched down to the ground while plugging her jacks into the ground to listen for any stray noise coming up ahead. Clasping her hands on top of the blue headphones that covered her ears.

Jirou's hearing was unrivaled to anyone else in their entire class, yet had the disadvantage of having to be still for her to get an accurate reading of any sounds that may pass. Which is where Shoji came in into the plan by growing ears on his arms that would be able to listen to unseen dangers as they continued their trek into the unknown building.

After a minute, Jirou stood up and looked over the team with a firm expression. "I can hear a bunch of unseen threats up ahead, though based on the sounds it may be a bunch of robots lying in wait."

Midoriya nodded as she got up from her spot and made her way towards her teammates, waiting for time to be called from their teacher before they can enter the building. Though they didn't wait for long, as their teacher's voice suddenly spoke through the speakers.

"You may now enter the building."

The heroes didn't wait to enter the building in a slight sprint, with Shoji taking up the front of the group while Jirou was at the back. Uraraka and he had their roles at keeping watch from the sides, though now that he thought about it...

'It's kind of like the time we tried to keep Kacchan safe at the training camp...' the green-haired teen mused to himself.

He shook those lingering thoughts away as they made their way deeper inside the concrete labyrinth, filled with numerous dark passageways that were filled with unknown dangers. While a part of him was a bit worried about what kind of foes were hiding, they had a bit of heads-up thanks to Jirou who quickly warned them of the upcoming foe up ahead.

"Something is coming up on the right!"

Which happened to be where Midoriya was facing, and he turned a bit to see one of the green combat robots that the students often practiced with. While it wasn't as big as the ones he encountered at the entrance exam all those months ago, it was still big enough that it slightly loomed over him.

"Threat detected! Alerting others to current location!"

Midoriya didn't hesitate to use full cowling, covering him in the familiar green sparks that his classmates were used to seeing before lifting his foot and delivering a mighty blow with shoot style. Reducing the robot to pieces and sending it flying to the wall.

There didn't seem to be any other robots that were coming from that path as far as he could see, and a quick glance from Jirou told him that there was no more heading towards him. Allowing him to get back towards his spot as they continued to make their way deeper into the building.

It wasn't too long before Jirou called out another threat that was heading towards them, this time coming from the left.

A swipe of a big green arm had come down onto Uraraka, who swiftly dodged it by leaning a bit to the side and quickly touched it to make it weightless. With Shoji quickly came up to the helpless machine and grabbed it with as many arms as he could form and threw it back down the dark hallway where it emerged.

With the threat dealt with they continued making their way deeper into the building before Shoji suddenly brought his hand up making everyone behind him stop. Forming numerous ears on his extra limbs as he strained to hear something as the others waited with bated breath.

Taking a glance at Jirou, Midoriya saw that the jacks on her ears seemed to be twitching as well. Straining to hear the slightest bit of noise along. Her eyes seemed to widen as she looked towards a certain path ahead of them. Shoji took a glance back to state his findings to his teammates.

"There seems to be a lot of enemies heading this direction, though the noise seemed to be increasing at a rapid pace. If I had to guess, that is where the supposed 'hostage' is being kept. What do you think Midoriya?"

The greenette looked on ahead with a frown, wondering what the best course of action should be for him and his team. Though as he recalled the raid he was in for Eri, he couldn't help but remember the way the Yakuza tried to stall them by sending massive numbers of enemies towards them. Prolonging their rescue for as much as they can to let Overhaul escape.

Maybe the robots were operating the same way?

"I think you are right. It was kind of the same in my work-study as well. I think if we continue in that direction, we will be able to reach the end."

The others nodded before preparing themselves for combat and charging ahead to the end of the dark hall. Where numerous robots with glowing red eyes started to appear from the depths of the building.

The group gave out a battle cry as they plowed their way through the massive wave of robots. With Shoji tearing the mechanical menace apart with his sheer strength as Uraraka made a good batch of them weightless. Allowing Jirou to blast them with the speakers on her hands and send them flying towards others that were charging at them.

Midoriya helped out in any way that he can. Whether it was helping his multi-armed classmate disassemble the robots in front of them or throwing a fist into the ones that flailed helplessly in the air. Making their way towards the ends of the building with vigor as they pushed themselves to their absolute limits.

A door could be seen at the end of the massive hallway as they four gave one last burst of effort to the enemies guarding the entry. Reducing them all to pieces before bursting through the door with a shout of effort. Blinking in confusion at the 'victim' that they were supposed to save.

The frail form of All Might was found sitting on a lone chair with a beaming smile as a rope was tied around his waist. An ironic twist for them seeing as they had to save the former number one hero.

"Well done everybody!" All Might boasted with pride, "You made it here in record time, giving you all a passing grade."

Midoriya's mind was still rebooting at the sudden appearance of his mentor when the other members of his team cheered in response to their accomplishment, with Uraraka high-fiving Jirou as Shoji gave a nod in approval. Though the greenette noticed that All Might squirmed a bit uncomfortably in his seat as he tried to loosen the rope on him, causing Midoriya to walk over and help ease his discomfort.

All Might nodded in appreciation at the gesture, looking at his successor in pride as the rope finally fell from his body.

"You've grown so much young Midoriya. So different than the boy I help train for the entrance exam all those months ago," he started with a grin, "I can't wait to see what else you can do."

Midoriya's eyes welled up a bit at the praise, before shaking his head with a slight chuckle escaping his lips as he corrected his mentor.

"I-it wasn't all me All Might..." Midoriya started as he looked over to his teammates and a certain purple-haired girl with a fond expression, "It was a team effort. I couldn't have done it without them."

(Later that Night)

In the commons of the dorms, everyone had gone to bed after a long day of practice and training. Everyone except a certain purple-haired was busy trying to make a song for the band to play for the festival. While Momo was worried about her friend not getting enough sleep for practice tomorrow, Jirou reassured her that she would be fine. She just wanted to figure out what the band should play for the concert.

While she could just play a popular song for the band to play, she felt like she had to do something more. Maybe it was the fact that she was raised in such a musical household that called her to do this. Or maybe it was just her pride getting in the way.

Jirou tapped her pen repeatedly on her notepad before she tore out the sheet she was working on and slammed her head on the table with a groan of frustration. As she had most of the tune and rhythm down, but for the life of her she couldn't figure out just what to sing.

Was she going about this the wrong way? Maybe she was too stressed out to get past this writer's block at the moment? Maybe it was because she didn't know what message to send out to a group of kids her age?

She paused when she heard someone enter the dorm, and let out a slight smile at the sight of a familiar set of messy green hair.

Midoriya entered his workout and a towel slightly sweating. Although he looked a bit tired, he had a content smile on his face as he headed toward her. It was such a drastic change from that night when she had confronted him that the girl couldn't help but perk up at his attitude.

"Sup Green.", she said with a lazy wave of her hand. Chuckling a bit when she saw that he jumped slightly at her greeting.

Midoriya let out a sheepish chuckle of his own as he made his way towards her after getting a bottle of water from the fridge.

"H-Hello Jirou.", the boy greeted as he sat down next to her before seeing the various crumpled papers surrounding her in slight confusion, "What are you up to?"

Jirou let out a frustrated huff before shifting her gaze towards the various crumpled sheets of paper with a slight scowl.

"I've been trying to make a song for us to play at the festival, but I can't of a single thing to sing about."

She then turned to him with a questioning gaze, "What are you supposed to sing to a bunch of other kids your age who are angry with you?"

Midoriya paused when she said that and realized she was talking about the thing Bakugo said about the other students being angry that their class was always getting attacked. Thinking for a moment, he considered what he did with the music that Jirou recently introduced him to.

He listened to many different forms of music in his spare time and found that many of them made certain past times more enjoyable than when he did them without them. Like how some of them made him more motivated whenever he was working out and training. Or how some of them made studying or doing homework not seem like such a hassle.

And oddly enough, there were some that he enjoyed listening to when he did... nothing. Music whenever he had some downtime alone in his room and didn't think of anything for once.

"Well...", the boy started off uncertainly as he had no real experience in making musical pieces, "I guess I would say how do you want your audience to feel when hearing it?"

He didn't get an answer as Jirou raised an eyebrow, but he could tell that she was at least thinking about it as she looked at him.

"Or I guess I could say, how do you want them to react to it?"

Jirou's eyes trailed off as she considered her friend's point. What did she want the audience to feel and react? Not only when they heard her during the concert, but even when the music stopped playing and they moved on to other events. If there was one thing that she wanted, it would be for them to...

"Smile...", Jirou answered softly before her voice raised in confidence, "I want them to have a big smile on their face when they hear our concert. Something that lets them forget about any worries they may have to let loose and have fun."

Midoriya slowly let out a beaming smile of his own, as he thought of a certain little girl that needed that the most.

"That's great!", the freckled boy let out a small cheer of his own, "Now you know what to start writing about?"

Jirou shook her head, but the smile never left her face as she answered.

"No, but I at least know where to start thanks to you."

Midoriya was happy to help her, even if it was only leading her to a starting point.

"You know it's funny, I always wanted to be a hero to help other people smile with my own. And you are trying to do it with your music.", he looked at her in awe as he said, "Koda was right, it is something that you can use as a hero too."

Jirou's face went blank as she heard the last two words leave Midoriya's mouth, letting her recall a certain memory from her parents whenever she had first told them about her plans about becoming a hero. Letting out a huge gasp that made the boy sitting next to her jump in shock as she abruptly stood up from her seat.

"That's it... I know what to sing for the festival!"

She turned around and gave Midoriya a smile that was filled to the brim in excitement and joy that left him momentarily stunned. As he has never seen her wear a smile that wide before in all his time at UA. Though her joy was infectious, as he felt a giant smile of his own start to form as well as he stood up as well.

He was so stunned by her smile, that he missed the moment she ran up to him and gave a quick, tight embrace as a show of thanks. It was probably only for two or three seconds, but the embrace left him stunned momentarily as he felt his entire face heat up and felt her arms wrap around his sides.

"Thanks, Midoriya! I got to get started right away!"

She quickly started to gather her things before booking it to her room, not wanting the idea to fade before she got the chance to write it down. Leaving behind a stunned, blushing green-haired teen.

"Y-You're w-welcome..." Midoriya dumbly called out as he saw the retreating form of his friend head up the stairs.

Midoriya didn't know how long he stayed there staring at where Jirou had left before he eventually shook himself out of his trance. He didn't have to worry about waking up early tomorrow, as it was the weekend and the only thing that he would be doing is practicing with his class in rehearsals for the festival. He slowly made his way up the stairs for his own room with a small smile on his face as he thought of Jirou's reaction to his admittedly subpar advice.

After a quick shower with a change of clothes, he quickly went to bed and started to feel his eyes shut after a long day of hero work. Yet he could still feel Jirou's arms wrapped around him in that embrace as he drifted off to sleep.

Chapter Text

"Midoriya... Midoriya... Midoriya!"

He blinked out of his thoughts and saw the familiar face of his pink-skinned classmate looking at him with a pout and crossed arms. A bit miffed that he kept zoning out whenever she was given instruction on their dance routine.

"If you didn't want to participate today you should've just said so!"

His eyes widened in fear at the thought of being left out of this class project, hastily shaking his hands in surrender as he pleaded with his dance teacher/coach while ignoring the amused stares around him.

"N-No it's fine Ashido! I can still dance! I-I was just thinking about something that I have to do later on."

His pink classmate narrowed her eyes in suspicion at his plea for a moment before relenting on the strict tone of voice she used to get him back into focus. Going back into 'teaching mode' as she then gave out helpful advice to him, guiding his arms into the correct positions.

"If you say so. Just make sure to pay attention!" she said as she looked down at his stance with consideration, "Also remember to be a little sharper Midoriya! You're still a bit too stiff in your movements."

He managed to breathe a sigh of relief when he saw her gaze shift over to Iida and his chopping motions to try to help out Iida's movements. Leaving him to refocus on his steps in the dance even as his mind started to drift off again.

Ever since Jirou gave him that hug in the dorm room last night his mind couldn't help but recall the event with fondness. Filing him with warmth for a moment before a confused frown was formed as he considered why he was feeling this way. Since as far as he knows, he wasn't used to having these feelings with anyone. And he certainly didn't receive hugs from many people par his mother now that he thought about it. Maybe he should find the time to talk to Jirou about it?

His thoughts were broken when he saw a speck of blonde hair peeking from above some bushes nearby. Making him narrow his eyes in confusion before recognizing the person as Mirio Togata. But the one who made his eyes widen was the little girl that was standing next to the bush nervously. The girl that he managed to rescue from Overhaul: Eri.

Several of the students came over to introduce themselves to the little one-horned girl, eagerly wanting to make themselves known to the new arrivals as the upperclassman's joke went ignored. Though this only caused the girl to hide behind their upperclassmen, much to the confusion of most people other than those that were part of the raid.

Togata's expression lightened up when his eyes met Midoriya's, a wide grin showing up on his face as he gestured to Eri and himself with glee.

"Hey, Midoriya! I was going to show Eri around the school to prepare her for the upcoming festival. Did you want to come?"

The freckled teen hesitated for a moment, not wanting to waste any more time so that he could learn the moves for the festival. Yet his resolve was swiftly crumbled when he saw the pleading look on Eri's face from behind his upperclassman's leg. Making him give a reassuring smile to the girl that managed to calm her nerves a little.

"S-Sure. I can come. I just need to let the others know."

Ashido noticed that a lot of people talking to the upperclassman, and came to a conclusion seeing all the interactions with the sudden new arrivals. Calling time off for a short break while Midoriya and Togata started to escort Eri towards the school to see what other events might be happening around campus. Wanting to show as much as they can before the big day arrived.

Jirou felt a giant grin on her face as the last few notes rang out from her guitar and the instruments from her band. Sure, some things could be improved both on her end and from the other members. But for the most part, it was perfect. The song that had both the rhythm and the lyrics to really give the other students the chance to have fun while also being intense enough to really make an impact. With her classmates feeling the same way if the grins and smiles on their faces meant anything.

"That was amazing!" Momo cheered her friend with a radiant smile, "To think you were able to come up with a song of your own! I can't wait to play it at the festival!"

Bakugo grumbled a bit but still had a sinister-looking grin appear on his face as he begrudgingly admitted that this was a song that he could get behind playing. Though insisted that they practiced till their hands hurt in order to properly 'kill them with their sounds'.

Overall, Jirou couldn't stop smiling at the reception from the others, turning a bit bashful now that the attention was all on her. Though Momo was wrong when she said she had come up with the song all by herself. As it was only after hearing the words from Midoriya the night before that gave her the inspiration to write this song after recalling a particular memory of her parents. Staying up to write out the lyrics and the musical pacing of each instrument for the band to play.

Though before she could think about sharing the actual reason for her inspiration, the door to their practice room suddenly opened to reveal the familiar dual-colored hair of Todoroki entering the room with a couple of notes in his hand as he looked between his classmates with slightly furrowed brows.

"Have you guys seen Midoriya? We've got an idea for the special effects and we wanted to run it by him."

Bakugo growled at the mention of the greenette while the others blinked at the question. Finding it odd that Midoriya was nowhere to be found when practice was going on. With the vice president heading toward Todoroki with a furrowed brow and a tilt of her head.

"Isn't he supposed to be practicing the dance routine for the festival? It doesn't seem like him to skip rehearsal."

Todoroki paused for a moment as he took in the sight of his high-class colleague, before shaking out of whatever thoughts were running around to answer Yaoyorozu with a smile.

"If I knew where he was, I wouldn't be asking would I?" Todoroki asked with just the slightest twitch of his lips showcasing his amusement.

Jirou blinked as she watched her friend blush and stutter at the rebuttal before gently slapping the fire-ice user on the arm, not used to seeing the two banter with one another before. Making her smirk at her high-class friend, already knowing of her crush on Todoroki.

The vice-president managed to catch the look on her face and cleared her throat with the blush slowly fading away.

"I suppose I could just tell him later," Todoroki said with a small frown on his face after not hearing anything else on Midoriya's whereabouts.

While a small huff of amusement escaped from Jirou's lips from the interaction between Todoroki and her friend, she found her mind drifting towards her own interaction with the green-haired teen the night before as blush slowly spread across her face as she recalled her actions the previous night. Something that made her insides squirm in embarrassment and her jacks fidget in nervousness.

She had hugged him.

It was an embarrassing thing to remember seeing as she was never really a person that engaged in physical contact with people most of the time. With the most she had was with her parents and the sudden hugs from her over-excited classmates Mina and Toru. She was just so hyped up about finally having an idea to play for the concert that she didn't think about her actions before heading up to her room to write down her ideas. Only fulling realizing what had transpired after waking up. Yet as far as she recalled, this was the first time she instigated it with someone else ever since she applied to UA. Which brought up another thought that made her want to scream into her pillow.

She liked it.

Even if Midoriya was too stunned to return the gesture, there was just something about embracing her freckled classmate that made her want to keep repeat the act. Which was odd seeing as they only just started talking to one another on a frequent basis. She internally groaned at the idea of confronting him about it, as she was sure that the gesture was seen as odd and unusual to him.

Meanwhile, Todoroki's eyes shifted towards the numerous pages that were held out on the various stands of the band members. His eyes lit up the slightest bit as he then turned to Jirou with interest.

"You guys finally chosen a song for the festival?"

Jirou blinked out of her thoughts at the sudden call out to her song as Momo's eyes seemed to snap away from Todoroki's. A subtle cough from Momo that was unheard by anyone other than Jirou as the vice president then gave a beaming smile towards the hearing hero.

"Yes! And Kyoka wrote it all by herself if you can believe it."

While she didn't want to take all the credit for this endeavor, she was unable to answer as Todoroki's eyes lightened up in slight excitement.

"Do you mind if I hear a bit of the song? I would like to take some notes for the special effects crew to see how we can blend the two together."

Momo gave an excited, yet pleading look toward Jirou. Which made her want to smirk at the failed attempt to hide her crush from her, but kept her face calm as she looked towards the rest of the band to see what they thought of the request.

"I don't see why not?"

Seeing the shouts of affirmation, Todoroki went to find a spot to sit while the band started to play the song once more. All while Jirou's mind drifted to the familiar sight of Midoriya, unsure of how their next conversation will go.

"So... What did you think of the school Eri?"

Midoriya and Togata waited with bated breath as Eri silently looked down at her cup of juice in thought after seeing the numerous different displays and attractions that the students were working on. Everything from plays in production to giant inventions and concession stands being displayed. While the greenette worried that it was a bit much to take in for the first visit, he waited patiently for the girl to gather her thoughts together.

"I... don't know..."

The answer made the two teens both slump over slightly in defeat, but before they could say anything else, Eri started to speak up again.

"But... Everyone's working so hard... So I can't wait to see how it turns out."

While she still didn't quite smile after everything they have seen so far, Midoriya could tell that the look in her eyes was different than before. Making him and his upperclassmen share an enthusiastic smile with each other.

"We call that feeling excitement!"

The three jumped from their spots and turned to see Nezu chomping down on a piece of cheese, making Midoriya blink at the odd sight as Midnight ate her own meal beside the principal.

"I must say that I am also excited about how this festival will turn out," the rodent said with a beaming smile as he turned towards the three, "I truly hope you guys are making the most of this time to prepare a fun festival that we can all enjoy!"

Midnight opened her mouth to say something, but her superior had already hopped out of his seat to start heading back toward his office.

"Now if you excuse me, I must be going. As there are many things to get in order before the big day arrives."

Midoriya blinked at the principal's quick exit, while a soft sigh managed to escape from Midnight. Something that the greenette noticed.

"Is there something wrong with the principal?"

Midnight had a worried expression on her face as she gazed at the retreating form of Nezu down the hall, explaining to the two about the deal he made with the commission for the school to run the festival as planned. With the whole event being shut down if there was even a hint of trouble between here and the day it started.

Midoriya hoped for the sake of Eri that nothing went wrong on the day of the festival.

Nonetheless, the R-Rated hero wished him good luck with the concert that he and his classmate were going to pull off. Shifting the negative topic into something more hopeful and exciting, though that only made Eri look at the greenette a bit confused, as she had no idea what the two were talking about.

"What is it that your class is doing Deku?" Eri asked the greenette.

Midoriya grew a large grin as he recalled the event for the festival, and didn't waste any time in telling her what they had planned.

"We are putting on a concert!" he started off with the excited smile on his face never faltering, "There's going to be music and dancing! You even get to see me dance!"

While Eri's face still didn't change as much from before, Midoriya could see that her eyes held some excitement over the thought of him performing. And decided to continue explaining to better describe what she might experience.

"There's going to be a few people playing instruments along with the song. So you will hear a lot of different sounds and noises when you show up," he then paused before sheepishly scratching the back of his head as he told her this next part, "I-I don't know what kind of song that they will sing, but I know the person who's going to sing it! And she sings really pretty, so I think it will turn out great!"

He paused in his little rant as a small blush dusted his cheeks, a bit shocked that he used that word to describe Jirou's talent. But after a small bit of searching, didn't seem to find any other word that would describe it after hearing it in person.

Thankfully Eri didn't seem to find anything strange about the little wording, only looking at him with a bit of hope and excitement. Though he missed the little raised eyebrow that came from his upperclassman before they both looked back at the horned little girl. Who looked back down at her cup of juice with a contemplative expression.

"I can't wait to see it..." she said with a small awed whisper. Making the two boys' grins brighten once more before Midoriya noticed the time. Making him a bit nervous of Mina calling him out again after already getting on his case this morning.

Eri looked disappointed that he was leaving so soon, but nodded along as they reluctantly parted ways. With Midoriya heading back to his class with an extra pep in his step, determined to learn his dance routine for the upcoming concert.

Chapter Text

"Midoriya..."

Midoriya was uneasy with the stare from Ashido the moment he arrived in the classroom, wondering why his pink-colored classmate would want him so early before class. It didn't help that some of his other classmates from the production team were giving him looks of sympathy from behind her either as they refused to meet his eye.

"You're off the team."

He could feel his heart stop as dread started to well up inside, not understanding how this sudden decision came to be.

"O-Out?..."

They started to explain how the stage crew needed another pair of hands for the performance that they had planned. Which led to him being called out due to his strength and mobility with his quirk, yet that still didn't stop the frown from forming on his face that was accompanied by a look of devastation.

"But... I-I promised Eri that I would dance..."

They had the decency to look ashamed of asking but was surprised when his friend Aoyama stepped forward with the usual sparkle in his eyes. Explaining that he was taking part in the stage crew by lighting up the area with his quirk, resulting in a disco-like experience.

Before he could voice a single word, Kirishima stepped forward with a slight bow and clasped hands to show their gratitude.

"We know that you've been working really hard on it on the performance! But it would mean a lot if you could help us out!"

"Well..."

Midoriya scratched the back of his head while trying not to let his disappointment show too much. As much as he wanted to say no, the greenette figured that they must really need another pair of hands if so many of them were asking for his help. And being the type of person he was, he couldn't just let their plea for help go unanswered. Even more so when he saw that they were waiting with bated breath for a response.

"Well... As long as I get to dance a little bit, then I wouldn't be lying to Eri..."

As one, the stage crew let out a pleased smile before coming

"Thanks, Midoriya! It really means a lot!" his pink-skinned classmate said with a beaming smile that Midoriya always associated with her with, "I might have to rework your schedule for now seeing that you are helping them, but I will be sure that you will get a part when it comes time to dance!"

He gave off a hesitant smile towards the dancing group as the conversation shifted towards new dance routines and moves before slumping down in his seat with a sigh after their attention was brought away from him, accepting his new role while trying to rein in his disappointment. While he was glad to help his classmates with their ideas and goals for the festival when the time comes, he was really looking forward to dancing for Eri on the stage. Wanting to see her face when she saw the concert in its entirety for the first time and his moves. At least he wasn't completely taken out of it, so it wasn't like all the practice was wasted. He was so focused on his thoughts that he didn't notice Uraraka walk up to his desk with worry.

"Deku, are you ok?"

He jumped in his seat at the sudden call and turned to see the look of concern in Uraraka's deep brown eyes. Making him slightly flustered at the stare while feeling his face warm up just a bit over the concerns of his first friend at UA.

"D-Don't worry about it Uraraka," he tried to wave off her worries with a sheepish laugh, "It's only a matter of time before I get back into the swing of things. I'm sure I will get the hang of it."

She didn't look too convinced at his plea but decided to let the matter rest for now as she hesitantly made her way back to her seat after a brief confirmation. Making Midoriya sigh in relief as he thought about his plans for that evening seeing that his schedule was cleared for the time being. Unaware of a pair of eyes looking at him in concern as he opened up his notebook.

'He's lying again...'

Jirou furrowed her brow in confusion from her seat after seeing the whole exchange, everything from Midoriya getting put off the dancing team to waving off his concerns with Uraraka. Making her sit back in her seat with a huff and crossed arms as she looked at her green-haired friend with a thoughtful expression.

She never really understood why Midoriya was so insistent on telling everyone he was fine whenever he wasn't, even when he was talking to his closest friends. But she knew it was a trait that he used ever since the start of the year much to her confusion. The only reason why she never called him on it was because he didn't look too keen on letting others know given the strained smile on his face.

'But as a friend, shouldn't I get involved?'

This was a strange yet familiar territory for her to be in right now, as she would once again have to confront him over something that he kept to himself. Yet unlike the last time, she didn't hesitate for nearly as long and only made her choice.

Pulling out her phone she quickly typed a message only to backtrack a couple of times on her wording, not wanting to be too straightforward about wanting to meet up to talk about his problems. As she was sure that would make him brush her off as he did with his friends before she first confronted him. She decided to go through a different approach, typing out something that made her slightly embarrassed but pushed through it seeing no other option.

Jirou: Hey green, I finally finished the song we made for the festival. And I wanted to know what you thought about it?

She didn't really need the feedback from her green-haired friend but thought it was a convenient excuse given that he had helped in the creative process. Waiting in her seat with bated breath as Midoriya momentarily blinked in confusion before pulling out his phone to see the message with surprise. Taking a quick glance around his surrounding before looking at her with that familiar dumbfounded expression that made her hold in a chuckle. Giving him a slight eye roll with a pointed nod towards his phone to let him know that it was fine to answer, the boy's features softening as he went to type back.

Midoriya: Sure, I don't mind. Did you want to meet up in the usual spot?

Looking up from her phone, she saw the familiar nervous expression on his face with his face turning into a bright shade of red from asking something so forward, still unfamiliar with the idea of being invited to a girl's room. Yet as the musically inclined classmate could feel the slight heat in her cheeks as well, there was a small part of her that felt warm inside at the idea of them being able to hang out again since it had been a while before their last meet up. Typing out her answer with more enthusiasm than she would like to admit to anyone else.

Jirou: Sure, same spot as usual.

The two shared a smile with each other as the teacher finally strolled into class with his usual hard stare, making all conversations cease as they scrambled to their seats. Ready to see what they might learn during their path to become a hero as they pushed their meet-up to the back of their minds.

All while missing the odd look on a certain entitled vice president as she looked between her friend and the freckled teen in confusion.

(Jirou's room)

Jirou absentmindedly strummed her acoustic guitar as she waited for her visitor to arrive, oddly looking forward to talking to the greenette and seeing what was bothering him at the moment. A vast contrast to how embarrassed and anxious she was they first started talking to one another.

She only paused in her activity when she heard a soft and anxious knock on her door, making her put down her instrument gently before making her way toward her bedroom door. Find an anxious Midoriya waiting in the hall fiddling the notebook in his hands with a nervous expression, though he relaxed once he caught sight of her.

"H-Hey Jirou."

"Sup Green."

For a moment, they looked at each with fondness before Jirou ultimately stepped to the side to invite him in. A gesture that he took with a small smile on his face as he made his way towards the inside of his room, looking at the room in awe that made the sound-based hero-in-training smile before his eyes drifted toward the instrument that was lying down.

"Is that what you're going to be using in the concert?"

Chuckling while shutting the door behind her, she made her back towards her bed with Izuku sitting down on her chair after only a little bit of prompting.

"No, it's not loud enough to carry across an entire stadium. I'm going to be playing one of those," she explained before pointing to the purple electric bass on the wall, "I thought you would've remembered seeing how we took notes on them.

"Right, right," Midoriya chuckled sheepishly while rubbing the back of his head, "I guess I must've forgotten with everything going on."

Jirou frowned at the crestfallen expression that momentarily fell on her freckled friend, seeing that he was still shaken up about the decision that he had momentarily forgotten the subject he provided help on. But his face of displeasure was gone before she could point it out.

Deciding to not outright ask him due to him just getting here, her eyes then trailed off to a purple notebook that he was holding. An odd choice given the standard one he used for his hero notes or for school.

"What is that for?"

Following her gaze, Midoriya's expression brightened up significantly as he brought the journal out for her to see, flipping through the blank pages as his smile never dwindled in the slightest.

"This is the notebook I got for you. I figured since we were always taking notes with each other that I put it in its own separate category. And it helps since we're always switching between heroics and something musical. That way, everything involving you can be found right here!"

Jirou stared into his glimmering green eyes with her own and found no ill intent or dishonesty in them, even when she used her hearing to listen to his heart. She quickly moved her head down as her face started to burn and the ends of her jacks started to twitch.

It was no secret that Midoriya was a bookworm, always writing something in his notebooks while muttering some incoherent words about heroes or studies no matter the time or place. Even if they were in the middle of training, he always seemed to have one on hand. Making his class confused about where he had it before writing. Though even if the class was a bit put out by it at first, they couldn't deny the passion and drive that Midoriya put into his work.

But the idea of having an entire notebook dedicated to her was just too much, especially since she was never used to this much attention from anyone before. Let alone someone that she was growing fond of due to their meetings, unable to stop the slight flutter of her heart at the gesture.

"T-Thanks Midoriya," she stammered as her friend beamed at the gesture, oblivious to her embarrassment the purple-haired girl forced down her blush before finally being able to look at her friend in the eyes, "S-So you were going to take notes on it?"

Midoriya nodded in confirmation as he opened to a fresh blank page, "Yeah. I might not know a whole lot about making music, but I thought it would be a good idea to write down what it was about or the way it would play," he paused before wavering his hands frantically in front of him, "N-N-Not that I'm telling you to change it or anything!"

"It's fine," Jirou waved off her concern with a slight chuckle seeing how it was now him who was being nervous. Though she had to admit that the idea did have some merit having someone who wasn't part of the band hearing it. Todoroki may have been the first one to hear it, but that was more about wanting to incorporate it with their production crew and props rather than the actual piece itself. Though there was a small problem...

"But I have to warn you that it is actually kind of loud," she said with a slight grimace for not thinking this completely through, "So I don't think I can play it at full volume unless you want someone barging in."

Midoriya also grimaced at the idea of disturbing the others that may be on this floor before deflating slightly in disappointment.

"Does that mean you can't play it...?"

Jirou's heart ached at the look on her friend's face, even more so when she remembered that he was also dealing with the disappointment of being put out of the dancing team. Plus, she did kind of invite him to come over to listen to the song, making it a real jerk move to make him come over and not give him a chance to listen to it.

"I mean... there might be a way for me to play it," Jirou started off hesitantly as the greenette's expression perked up the slightest bit, a raised eyebrow that made her more confident in her sudden idea, "I could try to play it in a different tone so that you could still hear the words."

Midoriya thought about it for a moment as his gloomy mood soon dissipated, looking at Jirou with understating seeing the reasoning behind them, and awe since he wasn't used to kind gestures like that being returned that often.

"Really... You would do that?"

"B-But only a little part of it!" Jirou hastily said not wanting Midoriya's hopes up in case her improv didn't go well, "Then you have to tell me what you think of it if you want me to sing the whole thing!"

"H-Hey you got it," Midoriya placed his hands up in surrender with a sheepish laugh, not really seeing anything wrong with the deal as he settled into position, "I won't make fun of you for it either since I know this is kind out of nowhere. I just want to hear the lyrics for now, then maybe later we can hear what it sounds like with the full band."

The sight of Midoriya's reassuring and understanding face made her sigh slightly in relief, settling back down on the bed as she looked at the instrument in her hands. Though she was still a bit nervous performing for an audience of one, strumming the guitar for a bit to get a bit of a rhythm going as she looked at Midoriya uncertainly. And seeing only an encouraging look on her friend's face made her take in a deep breath to prepare herself, finally closing her eyes and starting to sing.

~What am I to be...~

~What is my calling...~

~I gave up on giving up, I'm ready to go...~

The pacing and tone were different than the one she used during practice, as she wanted to reduce the amount of noise being made just in case someone else on the floor heard their little performance. Yet that didn't make Midoriya's look of awe diminish in the slightest, looking at her with a sense of wonder as he took in the words from the song to heart with that voice that seemed to captivate his entire being.

~The future's left unseen...~

~It all depends on me...~

~Put it on the line to follow my dreams...~

His breath caught in his throat as the words hit a little too close to home, recalling the days of his youth dreaming nothing more than to be like All Might. Pushing himself up when everyone else seemed to knock him down for his ideals.

~Tried all my life, I've tried to find...~

~Something that makes me hold on and never let go...~

~Oh...~

~Hero too... I am a hero too...~

~My heart is set... and I won't back down...~

~Hero too, strength doesn't make a hero~

~True heroes... stand up for what they believe~

~So wait and see...~

Midoriya couldn't help himself as two tears managed to break through, hearing the message All Might himself gave when they met that fateful day. A message that he wanted to hear his entire life, only granted after his courageous actions during the sludge villain incident.

The last notes rang out from Jirou's guitar as Midoriya quickly rubbed his face to dry off any tears on his face, not wanting to give Jirou the wrong idea as she finally opened her eyes to see her audience. The sight of her bushy-haired friend being in complete awe of her performance made her blush a deep red, the ends of her jacks fidgeting while nervously asking for his opinion.

"So... what do you think?"

Midoriya briefly looked down and realized that he didn't write any notes on the piece, too entranced by the song to get anything written down.

"I-I don't think there needs to be any changes, Jirou."

Jirou didn't seem to believe it, even if she could hear nothing but the truth given the state of his heart and the honest expression on his face.

"C-Come on, I'm sure that there's something about it that needs to change."

"No, I really mean it!" the freckled teen insisted with a firm expression and a giant smile on his face that took Jirou out of her self-pity, "That was amazing Jirou! I think it's just what the people need to hear!"

Jirou couldn't take it anymore and kept her gaze towards the floor as she fiddled with the ends of her jacks, embarrassed yet delighted at the praise from her green-haired friend. Unable to stop the large wavering smile from spreading across her face as her face continued to burn.

"T-Thanks Green…"

Midoriya also turned a bit sheepish, realizing that he was gushing over her work so much to the point that it made the usually snarky girl silent. Scratching his cheek with a nervous laugh as he avoided her gaze for the time being, before making his own request.

"So... Can I hear the rest of it?"

Jirou managed to look up at the hopeful and shy expression of Midoriya, a look that she never knew Midoriya knew how to pull. Though as she chalked up the fluttering of her heart at the moment to her current embarrassment, a smile was returned as she got back into position to play her guitar.

"...Sure."

As the sounds of the guitar rang out and Jirou started singing once more, Midoriya couldn't help but stare at the life and joy in Jirou's expression as she started singing once more without any hesitation from before holding her back. Unaware of the warm and caring stares they were giving one another as the room filled with her song.

Once Jirou finally went through the song, Midoriya wasted no time in praising her performance much to her embarrassment (and secret pleasure). Eventually shifting the conversation towards other unimportant matters as Jirou strummed her instrument, though that did make the greenette realize something about their meeting now.

"I guess this visit was for nothing huh? I don't really have any notes or changes for you."

Jirou managed to break out of her nervous state when she heard that, realizing it was the excuse she used to try to get him to show up. Yet despite that, she waved off his worries with a simple wave of her hand and a smile on her face.

"It's fine, don't worry about it," she said before finally deciding to shift towards the real reason why she wanted him to visit, "Though I was surprised that they wanted to change roles for the festival given how hard you were working on the routine."

While the smile was still on the teen's face, it was smaller than the one he used when he was praising her work as his eyes lost the glimmer of excitement. A much more diluted than the one he usually displayed around people that made Jirou frown.

"O-Oh that?" Midoriya chuckled nervously not wanting to bring the mood down after the amount of fun they were having, "It's no problem at all Ji-"

He stopped when the sound of the instrument ceased and saw the unamused look on her face along with the raised eyebrow, realizing that she didn't believe a single word out of his mouth.

"...There was just someone that I was hoping to show off my dancing to," Midoriya said with a sigh knowing it was futile to keep up this façade in front of her, "since it would mean a lot to her."

"Oh..." Jirou blinked in surprise at his answer, not expecting that kind of statement from her friend given his personality as she went back to absentmindedly strumming her guitar, "I didn't know you were that kind of person."

The greenette furrowed his brow in confusion, not quite sure where his musically inclined classmate was getting at, "W-What do you mean by that?"

"Oh, you know," she started off with a slight smirk that made him tense at her answer, "the kind of person that would try and woo a girl off their feet with your fancy moves. I never knew you had it in you, but you've shown us that you're always full of surprises."

Midoriya blushed a deep red, not believing that that was where her mind went, "It's not like that!"

"Sure it is..." Jirou said while giving him a pat on the shoulder for faux comfort, "Don't worry, your secret is safe with me Midoriya."

He groaned while covering his red and burning face with both hands, "It's really not like that Jirou..."

Jirou laughed at his flustered state, a sound that Midoriya was hearing more of whenever they hung out with each other. Though once he eventually calmed down enough, he managed to explain the day he had with Eri and Mirio. And the promise he made to her about seeing him dance in the concert made Jirou turn a bit more serious.

"Eri huh?" Jirou raised an eyebrow in surprise as the instrument lay beside her forgotten for the time being, "You mean that little girl you saved for in the raid?"

He reminded himself that while Eri was free and no longer with Overhaul, she wasn't really saved. As she has yet to release a full smile of her own but kept that part to himself for the time being. Though he didn't correct her at the time.

"Y-Yeah, she looked really excited at the idea of seeing me dance when I told her about it. But I feel like I'm letting her down since I won't be in it as long."

"Oh…" Jirou couldn't help but frown a bit in disappointment seeing how much this promise made to her friend, yet she still managed to give a reassuring smile of her own, "Well, at least you aren't being completely taken out of it."

Midoriya raised an eyebrow at the comment as she continued to push ahead while giving him a reassuring smile, "And the way I see it when push comes to shove you always seem to give your all when the time comes. So just got to make it count when you do perform, right?"

A small smile managed to break out on Midoriya's face, thankful for the reassurance and the uplifting words from Jirou.

"Yeah, I guess your right..."

Jirou smiled at the usual upbeat attitude from Midoriya returning to form, even if it was completely back yet. She knew that it would take some time to adjust to the change, so she decided to ask about his next plans seeing that he was free for the time being.

"So what are you going to do?"

The greenette frowned as he looked at the ground in contemplation, wondering what he was going to do for the past few days. Ashido already told him that she would have to rework his schedule due to his addition to the stage team, and Todoroki said they weren't going to be ready for a few more days as the stage got built. Leaving a bit of free time in the morning before he had to go help the stage crew.

"I guess I will do some more training," he started with confidence before hastily waving his hands nervously after seeing the deadpan expression of the girl in front of him, "A-At least until they let me know when I can start practicing again."

Jirou huffed at the idea of him doing even more training but couldn't fault him for coming up with that as he didn't really have much of a choice being forced to stand on the sidelines for a day or two while everyone shifted to the change. Though she frowned at the thought of him being left alone, as he would no doubt push himself to his absolute limit without anyone to watch him like last time. Which caused her to come up with an idea.

"...Well, why don't I train with you?"

Midoriya blinked momentarily in confusion before looking at her with wide and surprised eyes, taken aback by her sudden offer as several thoughts came into her head.

"Y-You don't have to do that J-Jirou! You already did a lot for me by letting me sit here and listen to your singing. I don't want to be a bother to you..."

At that, Jirou only tilted her head with a raised eyebrow, an act that a later Midoriya would find cute, but at the time, only made him pause in his frantic ramblings.

"What's wrong with wanting to hang out with a friend?"

Midoriya's brain momentarily shut down at the honest question, all reasoning and excuses in his head suddenly ceased at the confused yet kind expression on the purple-haired girl. A look that he never saw on her before and made his heart skip a beat.

To be honest, there wasn't really a reason to refuse her to join him. As there tomorrow wasn't a day where he would be training with All Might, only some light exercise and cardio before practice for the festival could get started. And while he usually preferred to do these by himself, there was just something enticing to the idea of her joining along for the ride. Maybe it was due to the many hangouts that were occurring lately, but her coming along seemed like a good idea the more he thought about it.

"Ok..."

Jirou blinked, expecting much more resistance from her stubborn friend, "Really?"

"Y-Yeah, it would be nice to have someone to train with every once in a while."

A smile was shared between the two, pleased that something was able to come out of this meeting even if Jirou didn't need his notebooks anymore as a study guide. Though that made them both notice the amount of time they spent talking to one another, causing the greenette to stand up from his spot and head toward the door.

"Wait, Midoriya."

The greenette paused at the door just as he was about to exit, turning around to see the usually sassy and confident Jirou turn uncertain. Making him wonder just what was it that made her fidget in her spot on the bed.

Jirou on the other hand was cursing internally at the fact that Midoriya didn't mention the out-of-place hug that night. Forcing herself to speak so that they may confront it, rubbing her arm bashfully as her jacks started to fidget.

"A-About that night when you help me figure out what song to play, I wanted to apologize f-for what I did after."

Midoriya was confused for a moment, furrowing his brow as he recalled the last time they interacted with one another before widening his eyes and realization. Along with a blush that covered his entire face as he tried to stammer out an answer to something that he found odd yet comforting.

The hug she gave him.

They never really talked about that now that he thought about it, too caught up with the festival and schoolwork to really confront the issue. Though he recognized that it was indeed something that needed to be addressed seeing how out of place it was.

He saw how nervous she was and realized that it was something that was eating her up all this time, and he felt bad for making her feel this way after everything she has done for him so far. So even as his face continued to burn over the topic, he steeled himself to be honest about his feelings no matter how she reacted to it.

Jirou didn't see his expression though as she still refused to meet his eye by keeping her gaze towards the ground, "I'm not really used to giving other people hugs like that..." she winced at how lame that sounded even as her cheeks burned a bright red, "So I just wanted to say that I'm sorry, since I know it was probably out of nowhere and how you might find it weird and uncomfort-"

"I didn't mind it..."

Jirou's jacks twitched at the soft sound emitting from his mouth, finally turning her head upwards to the very bright face of Midoriya as a nervous and sheepish expression grew on his face. A look of disbelief emitted from the young musician as she watched her friend's reaction cautiously.

"You... didn't mind?"

Midoriya winced at the look as he rubbed the back of his neck with a frown as he avoided her gaze, knowing that it was an odd thing to admit to someone that he was only recently hanging out with. Nonetheless, he nodded in confirmation as Jirou slumped her shoulder down in relief.

"Oh...That's... That's good."

"Really?"

"Yeah," the sound-based hero in training said as she clinked her two jacks together, "I was worried you were going to be all mad about it."

"O-Oh No!" Midoriya cried out as he nervously waved his hands in front of him, "I thought you going to be mad since I didn't say anything about it."

A look of surprise formed on the girl's face before a chuckle managed to break through, stumping Midoriya out of his shock.

"I guess we were both overthinking it."

A chuckle managed to break out of his own, the two at ease now that the conversation was over and no hard feelings were found. The relieved smile from the purple-haired girl captivated him when he eventually looked back at her face, leaving him momentarily stunned as she returned the same warm smile that started to grow himself

For a moment, they stared at one another as the atmosphere turned into... something. They weren't quite sure what it was, but nonetheless Jirou decided to break it as she finally stood up from her seat to return her instrument back to its case.

"I uh... better get ready for bed."

"R-Right, I better head off too. Busy day and all of that. I'll text you the time for tomorrow," Midoriya rambled on before pointing off towards the right side of the hall with an awkward chuckle he finally opened the door before walking off, getting a look of confusion from Jirou as she peeked her head around the corner, only to see him turn right back around and started to head the other direction with a bright red face much to the amusement to the girl in the doorway, "M-My room is that way..."

"Goodnight Midoriya."

She chuckled at his awkwardness as the warm smile on her face never left, watching him disappear around the corner before slowly shutting the door behind her. Leaving her alone with a goofy smirk as she shook her head in amusement at their actions. Recalling the conversation she had with him with fondness as she got ready for bed, idly wondering what kind of training he would bring.

Chapter Text

As the morning dew from the plants drifted off the blades of grass and the birds chirped throughout the trees, the sun rose from the horizon and coated the sky in an orange glow that signaled the start of a new day. A sight that would make many stop, reflect on their surroundings and take in the scenery, or even cause some self-reflection.

And yet...

"How... much... longer?" an exhausted Jirou huffed out beside Midoriya.

"You're almost there! Just a little bit longer!"

Jirou could barely keep her pacing as she jogged alongside Midoriya, who didn't even seem out of breath despite running for the same amount of time. Even supporting her during the run with compliments and praise when she insisted on finishing this run without any stops, even if he tried to get her to take a break at first. Her pride wouldn't let her quit after agreeing to join her friend just the day prior.

"And... finished!" Midoriya stated after they had passed a bench on the pathway, making Jirou stop with loud gasps leaving her mouth as she quickly sat to soothe her aching legs while a strained smile formed on Midoriya after seeing her condition. "T-That wasn't so bad... was it?"

Even as the wildly beating heart and the exasperated breaths were calming after that endurance run, she somehow managed to shoot off a dry look that left the greenette both impressed and anxious. Not knowing what she might have to say after this level of training.

"You... do this... every day?" she gasped out in between breaths.

"Well..." Midoriya sheepishly chuckled while scratching his cheek nervously, "T-There's actually a bit more that I do after this. Like lifting weights and maybe some workouts after class, then I usually head back to shower and ready for bed."

Jirou could only stare at him dumbfounded as he avoided her gaze by pretending to admire the vast scenery around him. Her incredulous stare seemed to pierce through him even as she managed to finally get her breathing and heart to a somewhat manageable level.

She always knew that he was always nuts when it came to training given how focused he was, but she never would've thought that he would push himself this far. Doing extra workouts and exercise in an already packed schedule of a hero student in UA really drove home how much of a workaholic her green-haired friend was.

No wonder he was so tired when he was overworking himself the past few weeks.

"But even so, shouldn't you tone it down just a bit?" Jirou asked in concern for her friend after seeing the lengths he would go to during class and training. "At this rate, you won't leave much time for yourself or any of your friends like before."

Midoriya frowned while keeping his gaze away from Jirou knowing that she was only concerned for his wellbeing, yet he knew that he couldn't just slow down due to him being the bearer of One for All. With the responsibility of carrying the quirk already on his mind along with all the people he already saved with this power.

Iida from Stain when he sought out revenge.

Kota from Muscular during the Summer training camp when villains attacked.

Eri from Overhaul, who suffered at the man's hands for so long before he was able to get her out.

He frowned at the thought of them suffering and slightly clenched his hands in frustration, knowing that he could help a lot more people if he was able to master One for All faster. Knowing that becoming the symbol of peace that All Might had been was a large gap that he had to fill now that his mentor no longer had the quirk.

Jirou looked on in concern at Midoriya's stern expression and worried that she was pushing too far, as she only agreed to join him in his morning workout and not a therapy session. And opened her mouth her apologize for being so forward when the greenette spoke up again.

"I have to get stronger," the greenette said quietly after a moment of silence much to Jirou's surprise, "people are counting on me to get stronger, and I can't afford to stand still when I can do so much more. I don't want to be a liability to them when I'm on the field again..."

Jirou looked at him in awe at the conviction in his voice, as it was nothing like the awkward ramblings that she was used to seeing during their time in class. Knowing full well that he was being serious as her gaze drifted towards the hands that were covered in scars, all caused for the sake of saving those in need before he finally managed to get his power to a more manageable level. Remembering the feeling of the injuries when she felt them on her own hands the night before.

The two remained silent as a slightly heavy atmosphere took place, Jirou facing away from her green-haired friend and thoughtfully taking in his words with a deep frown while Midoriya anxiously looked off to the side. Grimacing at the fact that he caused such a reaction in her when she was only concerned for him. Yet he knew he wouldn't take anything that he said back knowing that it was the role of the future symbol of peace. Taking in a deep breath as he opened his mouth to salvage this conversation as much as he could befo-

"Ok."

Midoriya faltered at the sudden interruption and turned towards his musically inclined friend with confusion as she stared right back with a determined expression, one that caught him slightly off guard if he was being honest.

"...Ok? I-I'm not sure I understand."

Now it was Jirou's turn to sigh deeply as she turned away from him, a frown on her face as she gathered her thoughts.

"I don't like how you're pushing yourself so hard, but I get it," Jirou started as Midoriya looked on with a furrowed brow. "You were never really the type to give up, even when you didn't have control over that crazy quirk of yours at the start of school. So I get why you are in such a hurry to improve after everything that's happened."

Midoriya slowly nodded at her answer, not quite sure where she was going with this but knew she still wasn't done as she locked eyes with a furrowed brow.

"But I'm not going to sit by and let you pass out from near exhaustion again, so I'm going to train with you as much as I can. Even if I have to bring Iida or Uraraka to do it since I know they were worrying about you too."

...

"...You don't have to do that," Midoriya said softly as he turned his gaze away from her. "I'm perfectly fine with training with myself."

"What? You don't think I can handle it?" Jirou said as she stood up from the bench with crossed arms and a frustrated look. "In case you haven't noticed Midoriya, you are not the only person in the class that has been through villain attacks. The USJ, I-Island, and camp, all of us were in the middle of that along with you. "

The green-haired teen finally turned towards his friend and was surprised by the sight of her clenched fists shaking in frustration. Her normally kind eyes now burning with disappointment as she glared at the ground.

"... And I couldn't even do anything when they attacked the camp that night. I fell unconscious the moment I took a whiff of that gas that was released into the air, being left defenseless as the rest of my friends fought their way out. Some hero in training I was..."

Midoriya's gaze softened at the sound of disappointment and frustration leaking through her voice, knowing full well what she was going through as doubts clouded his own thoughts when he thought he was lacking. Wanting to say something, anything to try to reassure her of her doubts at the moment. But he was caught off guard when a determined look graced her features.

"...So that's why I will join you. Not only to keep you from overstraining yourself but because I need to improve too. I don't want to be cast aside when there's danger like that again, and if working out with you can somehow improve me despite the intense effort then so be it."

Midoriya looked at her in awe at the sheer determination that was displayed through her gaze as she looked right back at him in unwavering defiance. Almost daring him to say something to refuse her newly founded commitment to get stronger.

And the green-haired teen couldn't find it in his heart to disagree, if only because he knew exactly what she was going through. The frustration you felt inside thinking that you could've done more, that feeling of self-doubt in your abilities even when others continued to praise you.

"Ok..." Midoriya relented after hearing her conditions and request.

Jirou was momentarily surprised at the answer but schooled her expression as a small smile made its way onto her face.

"...Good." the purple hair girl nodded firmly as she locked eyes with the greenette. "You better keep your promise then."

"For sure."

The two looked at one another for a moment in the cool morning air, the unknown feeling from the night before being felt as green eyes met purple. They traded warm smiles at one another as the slightest bit of red made its way onto their faces.

Jirou managed to snap out of the trance first, looking at her green-haired friend with a flustered look as her jacks twitched in embarrassment. Making her way past him in a hurry so that he couldn't see how red her face was.

"C-Come on, I think we are almost done right?"

Midoriya watched in awe as Jirou pushed past him and continued down the path they set on, determined to finish this run even when she was still struggling. He watched her start jogging once more as he numbly stared at her retreating form, the red on his face still slightly evident as he recalled the firm and determined look she gave him. How willing she was to train with him despite already going through the intense workout so early in the morning.

"R-Right."

He shook himself out of the daze slightly as he caught up to her, determining his quickening heartbeat to the exercise that he was partaking in while the sun shined on the duo from the horizon.

Yaoyorozu just finished stirring up the batch of tea in the kitchen of the dorm, something that she did routinely after being used to waking up early. Having set the small pot down for Midoriya and Iida who were usually the first ones to drink after showering from their morning runs. A gesture she appreciated as they made small talk before the rest of the class came down the stairs to prepare for the upcoming classes.

Yet while Iida had already greeted her and made his way to the showers, she was surprised to see that a certain green-haired classmate hadn't arrived yet since he usually came around the same time to greet her before heading back up but was surprised to hear two sets of footsteps heading her way.

Her shock grew even further when the people who arrived were the green-haired classmate she was just pondering about as well as her best friend Kyoka Jirou. The purple-haired classmate was panting and making her way towards the fridge in pants before pulling out a water bottle, wasting no time in gulping down its contents as Midoriya stood beside her with a nervous smile.

"You did much better than me when I first started out. I would've collapsed about halfway through."

The vice president watched curiously as Jirou finally finished drinking and looked at Midoriya with a slight smirk, even as she tried to regain her breath.

"It helps that I had a good coach to run me through it. Knowing you, you probably kept going until you collapsed on the road."

Yaoyorozu blinked as Midoriya took in the jab gracefully with a chuckle, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly with a slight grin as he grabbed a bottle from himself. She watched as his eyes met hers before walking up to her with a slight smile.

"Hey Yaoyorozu, is that the batch you just brewed?"

Momentarily taken aback by the sudden shift, a smile started to make its way onto her face as their usual greetings started to take root again.

"Yes, it is. I have just told Iida that it would be ready for him whenever he came down and was hoping to do the same to you. But was I worried that something had happened given how late you came back."

"I'm sorry for that. Today had a bit of a different routine because Jirou decided to tag along today to see how I train myself!"

Yaoyorozu blinked once more as her gaze turned towards her friend beside Midoriya, who remained silent and seemed much more interested in the design of the water bottle in her hands than the conversation around her. A slight flush appeared on her cheeks after the introduction from the greenette, making Yaoyorozu raise an eyebrow at the odd gesture as her eyes met Midoriya.

"Really? I hope you didn't push her too hard. I know that your training regimen is quite different than ours."

"I was worried about that too, but she really proved me wrong today. She's a lot stronger than we gave her credit for!"

Yaoyorozu watched as the flush on the musical teen deepened, causing her to hastily grab the ends of her jacks quickly to prevent them from spazzing out. A gesture that was known by the vice president quite well after getting close to her during the school year, forcing herself to hide the knowing smile that wanted to grow.

Oh my Jirou, I think I see what is happening here...

Nonetheless, she kept her suspicions to herself as she nodded to Midoriya with a smile, agreeing to the last statement fully as she poured herself a cup.

"She has a habit of doing that, I'm quite excited about playing the song she wrote in front of the school."

"Yeah! It's going to be great!" Midoriya cheerfully agreed before looking at the nearby clock on the microwave, realizing that he needed to get moving if he wanted to get to class on time. "Oh, I better get going. I will be sure to have some tea before I leave."

Then the greenette turned towards Jirou, who calmed down from the constant praise between the two as only a slight flush remained. Perking up at Midoriya's eyes met her own and his beaming smile started to shine through.

"And thanks for coming with me Jirou, I know it wasn't your thing to wake up so early to join me."

All forms of embarrassment seemed to dissipate as the girl shook her head with a slight smirk, raising a fist to nudge the greenette's shoulder playfully as a smile of her own started to break through.

"Hey, I couldn't drop out after promising to join you. Plus, it helped me improve too."

The two shared a fist bump with one another while matching smiles that made Yaoyorozu raise an eyebrow while a chuckle left their lips. The green-haired teen finally departed from the area as he made his way up the stairs, with Jirou saying her own farewell as her gaze followed his departing figure.

It was quite a sight to see Jirou in such a blissful state as she stared at the empty area where Midoriya left, resting a hand on her chin as a smile remained on her lips. Causing the regal teen to smile knowingly at her friend as she reached for her own cup of tea now that they were finally alone

"So you and Midoriya huh? How long has that been going on?"

The question seemed to finally break through Jirou's trance as she jolted in place before shooting an odd look at her. Diverting her attention towards her with a flabbergasted expression at the question as a slightly red hue formed on her face.

"What do you mean?"

"Don't play so coy, I saw how close you two were right now. I'm just surprised is all."

The heat on the purplette's face seemed to explode as her eyes widened in shock, looking at Yaoyorozu with bewilderment as the jacks on her ears flailed uncontrollably.

"It's not like that! We were just training together is all!"

While the outburst was expected, Yaoyorozu was surprised to hear that the two weren't dating given how close and intimate they seemed with each other. A feat that Jirou didn't really demonstrate with any of the other guys in the class, even more so when she recalled how embarrassed she was due to Midoriya's constant praise.

"Really? But I could've sworn it was something of that nature given how close you two were to each other. Not to mention that you two took the time to text each other privately before class started yesterday."

"Y-You saw that?" Jirou said with embarrassment as she clicked the ends of her jacks together, a bit flustered at being caught texting another boy in class even if this wasn't an interrogation.

"I did, but I didn't say anything about it. But I was just curious seeing how laid-back you were talking to him even after confronting him about overworking himself."

Jirou nodded in understanding seeing how their interaction looked from an outside view, as the two didn't really start talking until this past week. Making her sigh in acceptance as she leaned back on the seat she was sitting on; a distant look on her face as she recalled the last few interactions she had with the teen.

"It was not something I was planning on, but after talking to him for a bit I realized we were a bit similar in some ways. And that only made it easy to connect with him as he was helping me with notes for the upcoming concert. Training with him was something of a last-minute gesture, as I wanted to see what he was going through. And it didn't help that I got something out of either."

Yaoyorozu nodded at the thoughtful interpretation from her friend but felt something was missing based on how close they acted to one another. Putting the cup she was drinking down as a raised eyebrow made its way onto her face.

"Is that all you feel about him?"

Jirou looked surprised at the question furrowing her brow in confusion at the calm and calculated gaze that her friend was giving. She felt like she was being broken down and analyzed by the vice-president when she gave an answer that she felt genuinely confident about.

"Y-Yeah, why?"

For a moment, the two said nothing to one another as they stared into each other's expressions. Trying to find some answer to the other's thoughts before Yaoyorozu eventually chucked and sipped a bit of tea with an easy smile.

"Forget it, perhaps I'm overthinking it. I think I should get myself ready for the day ahead. I hope you aren't too tired for today's lessons."

Jirou blinked in confusion at the sudden dismissal but accepted it with grace as she scoffed with a sly smirk of her own at the worry from her friend. Making her way out of her seat and towards the showers as she called to the regal teen from over her shoulders.

"It will take more than a run to keep me down and out of the count. Just wait, I may just surprise you with all this training I do with Midoriya."

Yaoyorozu blinked at the confidence before a soft laugh made its way past her lips, turning away from Jirou as a knowing smile made its way through. She had a feeling that the interactions between her friend and the greenette would only improve from here, and she couldn't wait to see where it led.

Meanwhile, Jirou's smirk fell as a thoughtful frown made its way onto her face. Recalling the words from Yaoyorozu as she went towards her room to grab her uniform.

"Is that all you feel about him?"

She was confident in the answer that she gave her friend, feeling that their interactions were a major highlight to her in the midst of studying and training to be a hero. Something that brought a smile to her face when she recalled the sound of his laughter and the way he smiled at her. A gesture that made her give a smile of her own whenever she saw it and was the cause of, unable to stop the slight flutter of her heart as she continued on her way.

She wondered to herself what the next interaction with her freckled friend would involve.