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As Izuku Midoriya joined the crowd of people packing themselves into the warehouse, he was so glad that Kyoka had dug through her dad’s closet and got him some clothes, otherwise he’d be showing up in a t-shirt that read “leather Jacket” and an old pair of U.A. gym uniform pants.
He was decked out in an old leather jacket with some band buttons, a sleeveless (though it definitely used to have sleeves) band tee from a Pre-Quirk band known as Sum 41, skinny jeans that pressed his legs just a bit too tightly, and some beat-up Doc Marten boots. Kyoka had also applied some dark eyeliner on him and lent him some of her accessories, so he also had a spiky armband, and a chain necklace on.
He managed to squeeze his way to the front with a lot of “sorries,” “pardon mes,” and “my bads” but he was soon positioned right below the stage to where if he looked up he could only see the band from the shoes up.
What Izuku really found surprising was that she had somehow got Death Arms, a local hero from his hometown, to run security for her. Of course he was aware that back during their first year at U.A, Kyoka had taken an internship with the guy, though she didn’t get to see much action like he or Todoroki or Iida, who had fought Hero Killer Stain. Izuku had a small gripe with the hero as on the day that he accepted to train under All Might in preparation for receiving One For All, Death Arms had just been standing around while Bakugo was being suffocated by the Slime Villain.
Wow, I can’t believe that was nearly 10 years ago. Izuku caught himself muttering.
“Oy, squirt, shut up.” Izuku looked to his left and saw the man himself. Age had treated Death Arms well enough. His hair had gained some grey spots, and he had a few wrinkles on his face but otherwise he looked alright. He was dressed in a muscle t-shirt and jeans, but he had his hero costume's gauntlets on.
“Oh, hey there Death Arms. How've you been?”
The man scowled a bit. “Yer hometown has an assload of criminals, boy. Even with U.A. being nearby there are STILL criminals out on the street looking to make a quick buck. Thankfully some of your old school friends have set up agencies around here to help with the mayhem. Case in point-” he jabbed a finger at the empty stage where Kyoka's band was to begin the performance “- Earphone Jack and Chargebolt have been helping a lot.”
Izuku grinned at that. Hearing that some of his classmates had set up shop in his hometown filled him with pride. “Well, I'm happy to hear that. I've been stuck in Tokyo the last few weeks helping Dynamight and Red Riot on a case.”
Death Arms nodded at that, crossing his massive arms. He got a fond look in his eyes. “I still can't believe you came so far, kid. Y'know, I still think about the Slime Villain incident.”
Izuku's eyes widened slightly. “You… you do?”
Death Arms nodded. “Yep, and after conversations with Mt. Lady, Kamui Woods, and Backdraft over the years, I've come to learn that they wish they could've done more as well.” He looked down slightly. “So I guess I owe you and Dynamight an apology. Sorry about that.”
Izuku thought his apology over and shook his head. “Death Arms, it's been 10 years since then, and I think some people would just completely forget about something like that, so thanks for not forgetting. Apology accepted.”
Death Arms grinned at that, though he would never admit that he almost shed a tear. “Thanks kid. You make an old timer like me feel better.”
As their conversation came to an end, the overhead lights in the warehouse shut off with a loud *THUNK* and the crowd's loud voices slowed into silence. Izuku could hear footsteps on the stage in front of him, some lighter than others, and some minor grumbling from one of the members.
Then, lights turned on behind the band on the ground, giving them a back-lit feel as the opening riff to The Offspring's “The Kids Aren't Alright” started blaring through the warehouse.
Finally, the entire stage was lit up. Izuku grinned upon seeing all his friends up there. Front and center on vocals and bass: his girlfriend, Kyoka Jiro. On lead guitar: Fumikage Tokoyami. On rhythm guitar: Denki Kaminari. On the keyboard: Momo Yaoyorozu. And finally, on drums: Katsuki Bakugo.
The famous A Band (a name that Kaminari wanted to keep and the others just rolled with it)took the stage. Bakugo screamed into a mic next to him, “LET'S KILL THESE MOTHERFUCKERS WITH SOUND,” and the crowd went wild.
As the rest of the band joined in the song, Kyoka spoke into the mic.
“Thanks for coming out tonight everyone! We are A Band and this song is from a Pre-Quirk band called The Offspring, let's HIT IT!”
Kyoka happened to glance down at the floor after she said that, maybe adjusting one of her pedals, as she saw Izuku on the floor and she grinned at him.
Izuku grinned back and shot her a thumbs-up as she began singing.
To say that Izuku enjoyed the show would be an understatement. He knew all the songs by heart thanks to Kyoka playing all the songs around him so much.
After the band took a quick five minute break, Izuku ran into fellow former hero course students Reiko Yanagi and Shoto Todoroki, here to support their boyfriend and girlfriend respectively.
After the break the three of them stood together in the front row to cheer on the band.
The set list of the show included original songs that the band had written, like the Kaminari-inspired “Jamming-whey,” about his struggles to control his electricity, and “The Darkness Inside Me,” written entirely by Tokoyami about Dark Shadow. And of course they played “Hero Too,” it was their most popular song after all.
The setlist also had covers of Pre-Quirk bands like the aforementioned “The Kids Aren't Alright,” “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” by Green Day, and “My Hero” by Foo Fighters.
Finally, the show was coming to an end, and the closing song was coming up.
“Usually, a band would end on a sentimental song that makes you remember the show after you leave.” Kyoka took a seat on a stool that one of the stagehands had provided her. “This final song is not one of those songs. It was written by a guy in the band to his girlfriend. And my boyfriend is in the crowd tonight, so THAT'S WHO I'M SINGING THIS ONE TO.”
The crowd cheered as Tokoyami started chugging on his guitar, playing the opening notes to blink-182's hit song “All The Small Things”.
“All the small things
True care, truth brings
I'll take one lift
Your ride, best trip”
Kyoka sang the opening verse with all her heart, specifically to Izuku, who was singing along with as much enthusiasm as she was. Todoroki and Yanagi looked at Izuku with shock. Obviously they’d seen him get really into things before (Todoroki remembered his match with him during the first year U.A. Sports Festival), but this was a different kind of enthusiasm.
“Late night, come home
Work sucks, I know
He left me roses by the stairs
Surprises let me know he cares”
Izuku laughed at Kyoka switching the lyrics up a bit. Hero work was quite exhausting, and she had come back from a few shifts pretty agitated, and seeing Izuku standing by the door with her favorite chocolates or some flowers always helped her mood out.
“Say it ain't so, I will not go
Turn the lights off, carry me home
Keep your head still, I'll be your thrill
The night will go on, my little windmill”
As the song finished up and everyone was “na-na-naing” along with the song, Kyoka thanked everyone for coming before her and the rest of the band headed backstage to rest up after the show.
Having come to this specific venue multiple times, Izuku knew where the entrance to backstage was, making his way there quickly.
As he came up on the door, he saw another one of his classmates on the security team, though he was in his hero costume.
“Sato?” Class 1-A’s former baker gave Izuku a big smile.
“Hey there, Midoriya! Yep, I’m guarding backstage for the band. I suppose you wanna go in?”
Izuku raised an eyebrow. “Is that even a question, Sato?”
The large man crossed his arms and let out a hearty laugh. “I suppose not, go on through!”
He moved out of the way so Midoriya could push the door open and walk backstage. “Oi, Sparkplug, where’s my water bottle?” he heard Bakugo yelling at Kaminari.
“I’m not sure, Bakugo, maybe you left it up your a- AHH!” The electric blonde was about to respond before getting a jack to the side of the face.
“You know how Bakugo gets when you try to provoke him, knock it off.” Kyoka retracted her jack and walked over to Izuku, giving him a hug. “Thanks for coming out tonight, Green.”
Izuku returned the hug with an extra forehead kiss. “Of course, Jacks. I would never miss any of your shows for the world.”
Kyoka blushed pretty heavily while hiding her face in his chest. “I really got you a good shirt this time around, eh?”
Izuku chuckled. “Yeah, I really enjoy Sum 41’s music, especially ‘Still Waiting’ and ‘In Too Deep’.”
Kyoka lightly jabbed him with a jack. “You dork, those are two of their most popular songs, don’t you have at least one deep cut that you like?”
He thought about that for a second. “I’m not sure… my mind is kinda taken up by something else right now.”
“And what is that?”
“You.”
*BOOM*
The two of them jumped apart at the loud explosion coming from the other side of the room, Kyoka continuing to impersonate a tomato.
“Oi, get a room, you two, FUCK!” Bakugo exclaimed, snapping a drumstick in two with his hands.
The rest of the band glared at Bakugo as if to say “yo, let them have their moment”. That was when Todoroki and Yanagi finally came backstage.
“Bakugo, calm down.”
“You can’t tell me what to do, Icy-Hot!”
As Bakugo and Todoroki got into an argument, the couple used the opportunity to sneak out the back and head home to some pizza and listen to some music for the rest of the evening.