Chapter 20: June Arc, pt 2 Dekusquad
(4 am)
The second alarm on Izuku's phone went off just as he pressed his thumb down to catch it, not wanting to wake his mother. Inko needed more rest, what with how stressful both of their lives had become, and he wouldn't have something as insignificant as his backup alarm bothering her sleep.
Pocketing his phone and the little box his headphones charged in, Izuku eased himself out the door of their apartment. The sun was already up, but only just, and the world seemed relatively still. Peaceful, even.
Inhaling, Izuku started his stretches as he carefully eased himself over the barrier and drifted towards the ground. Sure, he could get in a bit of trouble for using his Quirk like this, but… well, he was still waking up and his sense of logic was kind of burnt out after yesterday. He probably should have let Yaoyor- er, Yaomomo, help with some of the analysis and training.
Gran Torino would whack my shins for getting so excited without thinking, Izuku chuckled to himself, glad the support department had informed him the new rings had been added to his gear. As he'd promised, a medium yellow step was now at the base of his stack, the group much closer than before. Following it: a single string-width of maroon for Edgeshot, a thin violet for Jiro, and on the other arm, replacing the plain stripes: a blood-red, jagged band to mark his first real villain encounter. He would never forget how far the gap was between himself and the top.
Finishing his stretches, Izuku placed his feet on the ground and got ready for his jog. He had to consciously turn off Float while he ran or walked now, since otherwise he'd equalize his weight and actually just be flying the whole time and only getting part of his workout. The downsides of his power were becoming evident, which was a long awaited triumph. Once he had a better knowledge of his Quirk, he could begin to compensate for it more readily. He'd already planned to rename Float once he could check with Nana, to truly make it his own.
Ukiyo was what he'd settled on. Rather than "Float" it was more akin to "The Floating World" or "To live in the moment." Really, it described the power's controls more than anything else he could think of. When he didn't think about it, or focused solely on it: Float was perfect, polished to a gleaming sphere of power within One-for-All. However, if he was distracted by the past or the future in a negative way, it would fail him, or perhaps he would fail it, and he would fall.
Slipping in his earbuds, Izuku waited for the soft chime of the wireless connection before opening his phone and scrolling to find himself something to listen to. The All Might OVA & Documentary soundtracks were there, of course, but something else caught his eye. A new tab labeled "sample".
Ah, that was right. Shiozaki had offered him some pre-Quirk music that she and Jiro had been chatting about yesterday and forwarded him a sampler of her favorites. He'd heard some of the songs, and they weren't the hymns he'd expected. There'd been a wide range of themes and styles, even a few soft rock tunes which had made him blink out of sheer confusion at the vine-haired girl.
Shrugging, Izuku hit the shuffle icon and began to make his way to Takoba Beach. It was a good run for a warm up, and there he could practice his martial arts and maybe Full Cowl in solitude. Despite the recent cleaning, people were still tentative to visit, especially during the sunrise hours.
Izuku stumbled as the first song started going. It seemed like techno, of all things. It seemed to be in English, which confused Izuku for a moment. While he could speak the language, he had to throw a mental switch in his brain to translate it. Unlike Float, it was only active when he called for it. He hit the back key through his shorts, ready now for the music to wash over him as he warmed up.
[I turn the music up, I got my records on.
I shut the world outside, 'til the lights come on.
Maybe the streets are light, maybe the trees are gone.
I feel my heart start beatin' to my favorite song.]
The singer was pretty good, though Izuku didn't really know if he was a great judge. He certainly had passion, and it was making Izuku's skin shiver with anticipation. Picking his knees up a bit, he started to jog to the off-beat, guessing he'd probably have to be in a full run to catch the primary beats, which wasn't what he was aiming for right now.
[And the kids they dance, oh the kids all night,
Until Monday mornin' feels another life.
I turn the music up, I'm on a roll this time,
An' heaven is in sight…]
It surprised Izuku when the acoustic guitar kicked in, nicely coinciding with the tree cover as he hit the main street. It somehow fit pretty nicely, and helped the transition into the electric riff. More importantly, it begged the question: how in the heck did this song come from Shiozaki?!
It wasn't talking about God or Angels or the destruction of sins, and it most certainly wasn't a hymn, so why was the ever-religious Shiozaki recommending this song? It was almost like a modern pop song, something he might listen to while doing his workouts. Scratch that, he was going to keep this one if it didn't trip at the finish line.
[I turn the music up, I got my records on.
From underneath the rubble, sing a rebel song.
Don't wanna see another generation drop.
I'd rather be a comma, than a full stop.
Maybe I'm in the black,
Maybe I'm on my knees,
Maybe I'm in the gap, between the two trapezes.
But my heart is beatin', and my pulses start:
Cathedrals in my heart!]
The base drop wasn't something Izuku had ever really understood before. Sure, it was a catchphrase for things getting serious, he grasped that much, but he hadn't really experienced a song that connected that with music before. He supposed it was probably because he never heard the cool songs with any of the friend groups he was kept away from. He might need to fix that.
Jiro (and evidently Shiozaki) would probably have to be his guides to the world of "the cool" Izuku guessed. At the start of the year, he would have been terrified of the prospect. In Jiro's case, he still kinda was, especially since she hadn't said a word about the kiss a month earlier; instead simply teasing him with winks when she felt like it. But the idea of hanging out with Shiozaki or a little group of his friends just… seemed like something he could do.
Ukiyo indeed, he mused to himself, I just need to let it happen.
[As we soar!
Whoa this light!
I swear you, emerged blinking into,
To tell me it's alright.
As we soar!
Whoa!
Every siren is a symphony,
An' every tear's a waterfall.
It's a waterfall!]
As the lyrics repeated themselves a little bit for the instruments to play around a bit, Izuku found himself muttering along, barely noticing where he was going anymore. It felt kinda fun to sing along to music, even though he doubted his voice was any good, especially compared to some of the girls in yesterday's study group.
[So you can hurt!
Hurt me bad!
But still I'll raise!
The Flag!]
Getting into it, Izuku began to feel his arms moving out of sync with his legs, instead bouncing with one of the rhythms. It wasn't exactly air drums or guitar, and he bet he looked absolutely ridiculous, half-conducting/half-playing along to an inaudible song wrong (even someone who couldn't hear would know he sucked at it), but it just felt… it was a feeling, and he couldn't resist it.
This is the power of music? Jiro's Quirk suddenly became a lot more terrifying. I have to write about this when I get home!
He was about a third of the way to his stop when the music came to an end, and Izuku's Otaku instincts had kicked in. He drew out his phone, not stopping as he continued on, turning the song back around and selecting the loop option. He wanted to really get those lyrics this time, especially since he was pretty sure he'd mistranslated a few thanks to style and his own ineptitudes.
Once he had a better grasp on just what the singer was talking about, Izuku realized a bit of why Shiozaki might like the song. It wasn't necessarily about anything stereotypically associated with her, but he was starting to see a bit deeper than her persona.
It wasn't that Shiozaki was faking her religious devotion, not at all: she was full tilt ready to start dealing out divine retribution or forgiveness at the drop of a hat, but she had more to her than just devotion. Shiozaki had a bit of a heartsick side to her; a longing for something she didn't have and soothed with what she could. Gardening was an obvious skill, but she evidently enjoyed it for its own sake, alongside listening to music, and (if Jiro was to be believed) most scandalous of all: literary romance.
Izuku was sure there was more to his new kinda-friend, but even seeing that much further into her was a gift he wouldn't want to sully by greed or over-eagerness. It had made him feel unexpectedly happy when she'd complimented his drawing skills, and it was only now that he realized her sharing this playlist with him was probably her way of placing the same trust in him that he'd offered her by showing off his notebook.
The third repeat of the song finished out, and Izuku came to a stop on the sands of Takoba. He guessed it was Parkinson's Law setting in, but he didn't really know. It might have just been chance. He quickly cut the loop, going onto one of her other songs in the shuffle as he began his actual morning. Vaguely, Izuku noticed he'd arrived early, spurred on by the tune.
As the lyrics of Paradise began to feed into his ears, Izuku switched his brain back to Japanese. He'd figure out what it was about later. For now: he needed the music but not the song. It was distracting, and he had to work on tuning it out while also knowing it was there. If he zoned out like had at Edgeshot's place… in combat, that could prove fatal.
Izuku began with his basic martial arts routine, letting his limbs remember the now familiar forms. He would complete four or five circuits normally before powering up to his 5% limit and getting to the actual work. Usually nobody noticed, and those who did usually assumed he either had permission or that the lightning was incidental. He'd never had to answer any police questions about it, at least.
The sand proved interesting as his feet shuffled around on it, especially when he went for kicks or a crouching action. The uncertainty of the terrain proved to be an extra layer to his training he'd enjoyed having, even if it meant he had to take things a bit slower. Izuku wondered if Gran Torino would approve of his going a little above the requirements in this, or if All Might would have comments on his developing fighting style. He hadn't mentioned anything in class, but…
Getting lost in his thoughts, Izuku let the music overtake him as he continued his practice. He'd been watching the Edgeshot Martial Arts workout videos the man had sent him during the internship, and without thinking, he began to attempt some of the moves. They felt like an extension of what he already knew, as opposed to fresh material.
"Quite the interesting form you have there, Young Midoriya."
Twisting on his grounded foot just so, Izuku rotated and planted his other leg, getting down into a combat pose right out of the kick he'd just been practicing. He caught sight of who'd spoken, and lost balance, faceplanting in the sand.
"All Mi- mmph!"
"Easy there," the skeletal Hero chuckled, "Don't want to go giving away my secret, now do you?"
"S-sorry, A- um… Yagi-sensei?" Izuku tried, getting back up, "Gah… that feels so weird."
"Indeed. Perhaps you should call me Toshinori?"
"B-but that's your given name!"
"Young Midoriya, the ties that bind you and I are far deeper than even blood," All Might reminded him, "You could even call me by my nickname, and I wouldn't stop you."
The viridet boy blinked in surprise, before panicking and waving his hands wildly as he was want to do when he wasn't sure what to do with them.
"I-I-I couldn't do that! I'm already having a hard enough time not calling Aizawa-sensei, Eraserhead every day!"
All Might coughed up his usual stream of blood as he laughed, patting Izuku on the back as he dabbed at his lips.
"You need to get that fanboyism of yours under control, my boy!" he reminded him, "The only reason I don't call you by your name is because I'm an old man."
"You're not-" Izuku tried, before cutting himself off, "Well, I guess Gran Torino agreed with you on that. He made fun of me after we first visited Edgeshot…"
"Ah yes, he's a bit of a cantankerous old fellow, isn't he? But, he helped you more than I have, so I don't think either of us can really complain."
Izuku nodded, his hand unthinkingly sliding down from his neck to itch at the spot Gran Torino had liked to kick. He could understand why his mentor was afraid of the old fellow.
"Well, I'll leave you to your morning routine," All Might apologized, patting his shoulder with understanding, "I was on my own jog, and happened to see a familiar flicker of green lightning. How's that feel, by the way?"
"Hm… it's hard to say. The electricity doesn't hurt, but it kind of tingles when it starts up. It's not as painful as the dark energy stuff, though, so that's good."
All Might frowned in confusion, to which Izuku revealed the little dark tendrils he could sprout from his fingers, reminding the teacher. His expression lit up, and he nodded, clearly remembering the hospital bed.
"They seem more under your control now. Can you reinforce your body with them like before?"
Sighing, Izuku shook his head.
"They hurt if I try to make them that long or inside my arm, and it didn't really reinforce, more… held me together?"
"Well, something to keep in mind, anyway. Who knows, maybe it'll turn out to be something else entirely?" the veteran Hero mused.
"Ah well. Regardless, have a nice morning. I'll see you in class today. And, ah…" All Might lowered his voice conspiratorially, winking, "You might want to look up some quick videos on international team ups."
Izuku felt his eyes go wide, and he grinned hopefully.
"Are we doing silent rescues?! To practice our ability to communicate non-verbally to Heroes or citizens who don't speak languages we do?" he asked, positively giddy at the prospect.
All Might seemed a bit taken aback.
"How did you guess that so fast?!"
(7 am)
"Welcome back, Todoroki-san!" the receptionist at the desk greeted Shoto, waving him to the usual hall, "She's already up and waiting for you."
Nodding back his thanks, Shoto decided to take the stairs today, getting in a bit of a leg workout as he ascended to her floor. Really it wasn't much more than the elevator, even if he did take them three at a time at a sprint, but Midoriya never gave anything less than his best.
Knocking gently on the door with his family name on it, Shoto waited for the soft voice of his mother before taking the handle. If she'd been too tired to see him, or otherwise been unable to, he wouldn't want to be presumptuous. Opening the door each time felt somewhat like… a finality. An action that firmly said: "this cannot be taken back. I've come to see you."
"Come in!" a gentle voice called.
Stepping inside, Shoto slid off his shoes, giving the usual reply of "Please forgive the intrusion." As always, his mother had a counter.
"Oh, you're never intruding, Shoto. I'm always happy to hear about your day," his mother beamed at him, sitting in her usual spot on the bed.
He wasn't really sure how to answer that, so Shoto just nodded and walked over to his traditional seat as well. It was kind of still hard to talk to her, but he really wanted to have Rei as part of his life. She was his mother, and no matter what had happened in the past… he'd forgiven her long ago, and she knew that.
She'd evidently noticed his moping face, because her hand had come up to cup his cheek. He was too surprised to even flinch. She'd started to be more physically affectionate recently, which he was happy for. He'd missed her hugs.
"There we are," she praised, seeing him smile a little at the contact, "Now we can have our chat. Always have to take care of touch-starvation before settling in to talk."
"Mhm."
So they talked. They talked about… nothing. And everything.
Rei wanted to know how school was going, so he told her about the classes he thought were interesting. She remembered how her own high school had been, lamenting she had no pictures.
That led her to ask about his friends, and he explained how he'd been… somewhat adopted by the other students who hung around Midoriya. Uraraka, Ida, Tokoyami, and Jiro, mostly. Ashido had jokingly referred to them as the "Dekusquad" which had earned a "truly, an unbridled badge of honor" from the bird-headed Hero student. So he liked it, at least.
Of course, once he brought up how Yaoyorozu and Asui were starting to look like honorary members, thanks to how often they hung around Jiro and Uraraka respectively, his mother got that look on her face. She naturally wanted to know who he found attractive at the moment, so she could tease him or give him advice.
"I think I've heard you mention this Yaoyorozu girl before, dear," she smiled a bit teasingly, "You voted for her as class president, and sit next to her, isn't that right?"
"Yes. Both of those things are true," he answered cautiously.
"And I seem to recall you said you admired how creative she was, right? How she was able to take the top place in your first test or something?" Rei pressed.
"I did say those words at one time."
"Then… should I expect you to bring her along one of these times?"
"I doubt she would want to impose. She's very polite about these sorts of things," Shoto tried to shut her down gently.
"Is there someone who you'd ask to accompany you, then?"
Shoto had to give it to his mother, she was persistent.
"I don't think I'd feel comfortable asking someone to come see you," he admitted, "these are… special."
"Well, don't you have someone you trust to share special moments with?" Rei asked, her tone shifting to one of more concern than of poking fun, "One of your friends maybe?"
Considering, Shoto thought through his list of friends. Ida and Ojiro were certainly in the running for such a trust. Yaoyorozu was probably the one who'd have the easiest time achieving it if she wanted to, what with her access to him. Then again…
"I suppose… Midoriya might be alright to come along, if you wanted to meet him," he settled on.
"Midoriya? The boy who kicked you around at the Festival?"
"The boy who helped me work up the courage to come see you."
Shoto didn't often get to see his mother truly surprised, especially when the reaction after was positive. It was quite special to see her heart-warmed grin.
"Well, if he did that for you, I think it would be wonderful to have a chance to thank him."
"Hm…"
They lapsed into a tentative silence, with Shoto wondering how Midoriya might react to such a suggestion. He wasn't entirely sure how he'd react to offering it.
"You know… I think Fuyumi's seeing someone," Rei prompted, trying to resume the conversation, "Although, I might be wrong."
Rather than say anything, Shoto simply raised his eyebrows, silently allowing her the room to explain. It was easier to be quiet than to talk, and he found most people enjoyed having someone who could listen. So, if it helped his mother, he could be that person.
"Well, she doesn't say too much, but she's mentioned that she thinks your brother has a girl at his college. She brings it up rather… out of nowhere, and sounds a bit critical of him. I feel as though she might be projecting just a touch. Fuyumi even brought it up when I was discussing my view of the moon the night prior."
Rei smiled to herself, looking down at her hands.
"It makes me… oddly happy, to think of my children finding loving partners to take care of them. I know my own marriage wasn't exactly the model of a loving home, but… I have faith you'll all choose well."
He could honestly say, he hadn't given much thought to a partner. Someone to… share his life with? It wasn't a part of his future he'd looked to with any real intent, but hearing his mother's dream…
"Has Fuyumi- That is, have either of them ever discussed how one goes about… picking someone?"
Easing herself off the bed, Rei crossed the small gap between them and gave her boy a hug, just like she once had when he was small. Shoto returned the embrace instantly, missing it before it had even ended.
"I know I like to tease, but if you really want to know how to find someone; I'm more than happy to help you figure things out, Shoto," she promised.
"Thanks, Mom…"
They stayed like that for a while, just allowing themselves to feel one another's presence. It was nice to be hugged. He should get more of these. Maybe he should ask his friends for hugs? It shouldn't be too awkward. Jiro and Yaoyorozu hugged all the time, and so did Asui and Uraraka. Ashido hugged just about everyone, so he could totally ask Midoriya for a hug next time he saw him.
Parting, they each sat back down. His mother watched him expectantly, but not intently, so he guessed it was his turn to talk. Darn.
He wasn't really in the mood for a talk on dating, so he decided to try changing the subject. Shoto tried to think of something that wouldn't bore her or bother her. Most things regarding Hero work were out (thanks dad), and that was really most of what he knew how to talk about. He didn't really have… hobbies.
"I've been thinking about my Hero Name," he confided, finally, "But I… don't really know what it should be."
Rei seemed to think back, sighing a little as she nodded.
"Somehow we never seemed to settle on any," she agreed, "None of your teachers had any ideas? Or your classmates?"
Shoto shook his head.
"Nothing significant. Jiro named herself after her Quirk, and one of my friends calls me by something close, periodically. But somehow I don't think "Half-n-half Bastard" would be a good name. Then again, Midoriya took his nickname as his Hero name, so it's not unprecedented."
"And you're… sure he's not bothering you by calling you names?"
"He does it to everyone. He's rather creative, usually. Even when the name is obvious, it's something that he knows they won't ignore when he uses it, so he doesn't have trouble getting people to answer his questions or breaking through cold shoulders."
His mother seemed to mull over his words. He could admit, Bakugo was one of his more… interesting friendships, but he was pretty cool.
"Well, did anyone use a name that wasn't directly related to their Quirk? Maybe you could do something significant to you?" Rei wondered.
"Midoriya went with "Deku." It doesn't really have much to do with his powers, but he says he likes it. And Mineta went with "Grape Juice" which only vaguely connects to his powers. Sort of a visual pun, I think? Most of them put any special meaning into their subtitles."
Rei clapped her hands softly, beaming at him.
"Then why don't you make it funny too? You can use your Quirk for the descriptor, and then you can have any name you like."
Shoto considered. It was an interesting idea. Admittedly, "Night-time Pillow" might piss his father off, as would "AC," but… really, he didn't want to be chained down by Endeavor for the rest of his life, even in rebellion. He had to go for something… uniquely himself.
"I like the idea of being "Soba: the Cold or Hot Hero"…" he hummed, almost jokingly.
"If that's what you want, dear, I'll support it 100%," Rei assured him, her sincerity almost literally glowing, "And it certainly seems like a very unique name."
"It is better than "TV Dinner: the Frozen and Scorching Hero," he tried again, this time really trying to get across that it was a joke.
Luckily, it worked that time. His mother giggled, shaking her head a little.
"I'm not entirely certain how you know that reference," she admitted, "They aren't nearly so bad these days. They weren't even so bad in my day, and I'm quite sure you've never had one to eat, unless you did it to rebel against your father when he had guests over?"
"Setting aside the Team Avalon incident," Shoto brushed past, "Ashido likes to make sure everyone is up-to-date on the most ancient jokes and references that have become popular again."
"I see. Well, I suppose it all comes down to the question: who do you want to be as a Hero?"
Want. There was that word again. Midoriya used it, and even the waiters at the restaurant. He had to choose, to seek something for himself. It was still a hard question.
"I don't know…" he admitted.
"And that's okay," his mother assured him, "You're only just into your first year of high school. You don't have to have your whole life planned out today."
(9 am)
"Faster you pansies!" Katsuki called, blasting off a wall and kicking Ashido's -s.
She fell right onto her face, groaning in pain.
"Whhhhy?" she whined, trying to get up.
"Where's your dodging?!" he roared, bouncing off to try and hit Sero this time, "You were all flash the other day!"
"Dude, where is your chill?" the tape-user asked, firing and missing him completely.
"Where's your aim?! HOWITZER-!"
Kirishima slid between them, bracing his feet into the ground and crossing his arms defensively. As Sero tried to get away, Katsuki impacted at full power, his supermove sending his best friend flying, but not injured. Good. Guy needed to get tougher if he was gonna be fighting villains full time. At least… five? Yeah, seven Howitzer Impacts before he cracked and he'd be good.
"Stop losing your footing, -tty Hair!" he screamed after Kirishima, "How are you gonna fight me from over there?!"
"He was distracting you from meeeeeee!" Kaminari called, running up from behind.
Katsuki didn't even bother using his Quirk. Instead, he just kicked the moron in the chest and watched Kaminari hit the floor.
"It's not a sneak attack if you scream like an idiot, Dunceface."
"Huh…"
A hand-shaped light came from nowhere, crackling with explosive power as the fingers became visible. Katsuki dropped to one knee, gripping the wrist and letting Monoma's blast fire off into the air above him.
"I'd say like that, but Mouthy didn't get his angles right," he grumbled, tossing the 1-B boy across the room into what looked like empty space.
A squeak of surprise came from something he ran into, finishing returning to visibility as Hagakure crumpled under his weight. The rest of the 1-A students glanced over at her, then to Katsuki.
"Why is he here again?" Ashido asked, jerking a thumb back at Monoma.
"I don't know!" he growled at the acid-user, "Mouthy just kept following me around after the internship and he won't stop!"
"C'mon man," he whined, getting up and smirking at him, "I thought we were buddies."
"HA!"
Bouncing off a nearby wall, Katsuki started heading towards the other two wackadoos who were following Monoma around and were… present. Both of them were kinda plain by the standards he'd seen in the Hero Course, but one of them had that Air shield he liked to beat on, and the other one had some nice attack power with his spinny stuff.
"Come at me!" the first one called, standing way too confidently as they waited for him to hit them.
"Not fallin' for it a second time!" Katsuki roared, taking the same midair stance as his Howitzer but giving himself more time between blasts as he started making a spiral pattern.
As his explosions gave him some light and spin, he caught glimpses of the air shields' edges, avoiding them and watching with glee as their producer started getting more and more worried.
"Nice maze, Huffy!" he shouted, getting around the last and sliding to a halt with his hand behind the guy's head, "Mind if I blow it down? That is, if your boyfriend hasn't called dibs?"
The spinny one was charging, but the way his face turned crimson at the little jibe was all the distraction Katsuki needed. The student stumbled, his hands still whirring like drill bits as he approached. Sidestepping, Katsuki grabbed his shirt and slammed him into Huffy.
"As much fun as it is seeing Pretty-Boy drill your back side, we're here to work," he laughed, dropping them both and launching back around to knock Kirishima through another wall.
"Alright! That does it!" Huffy roared, getting up and cupping his hands around his mouth, "Kaibara: SCREWATTACK!"
Pretty-Boy leapt into position as a new wall of Air was fired after Katsuki, propelling him and his extended drill arms quite nicely. Sadly it was very projected, so he just let himself fall for a second and Kaibara overshot, hitting a wall and spinning in it for a moment before realizing he was stuck.
Grabbing Kaibara's belt, Katsuki pulled him out of the concrete and dropped him to the floor, dazed.
"This is why you train your supermoves on weekends and not go to orgies you saw on handwritten fliers," he deadpanned.
"How in the h-"
"I was the one who stopped Trashcan from going. Luckily for everyone; only you, Huffy, and Soy Sauce Face were dumb enough to believe it."
Kaibara slumped against the ground, all the fight going out of him.
"Oh stop pouting," Katsuki groaned, tugging him towards the rest again, "I won't tell anyone. I'm a jack-s, not evil. Just stop acting like your boyfriend's a guilty pleasure or something. Half the classes are dating someone by now, just own it for Kami's sake."
"He's not… well we… ugh, why am I talking to you about this?" the poor guy groaned.
Katsuki wasn't really in the mood to play therapist, so he just shrugged.
"I think you have… seven more seconds to confess your sins and whatnot," he offered, glancing over at the charging students ready to get pounded some more, "After that everyone else will hear."
He seemed to weigh his options before shaking his head.
"We're not dating," he admitted, "But we are… together."
Oh. Oh -t.
"Ah… -k, I don't know how to insult you for that without sounding worse than Trashcan," Katsuki admitted, stunned, "-kin', why'd you have to shove that on me?! Now I've gotta- d-it, wait here, Handyman."
Leveling his hands and straining them as far as they'd go, he let out a concussive blast to crack the ground and send a wave of artificial rock tumbling at the others to hopefully buy himself some time. The shrapnel dissuaded most, while the pit stopped the others.
"Five minutes break!" he shouted to the "Bakusquad" as Ashido had named them.
"Handym- wait, you're saying those nicknames are intentionally calling us out?" Kaibara asked, appalled.
"It's how I show I care," Katsuki smirked, only mostly sarcastic, "Now: explain to me in the next ten seconds why I shouldn't boot you out of this training right now, yeah?"
Kaibara looked affronted.
"I don't even want to be here!" he complained, "Monoma dragged us here!"
"Then let me put it another way," he said, placing his hand on the guy's shoulder and letting off a few crackles to make sure the guy was paying attention, "You're not gonna be a Hero. If you spend your free time screwing somebody, that's your business. But if you think you and your buddy can just get together when it's convenient and hope nothing goes wrong, you're more of an idiot than Dunce-face."
"Which one's-"
"Stun-boy McZappy!" Katsuki shouted, not in the mood to explain his nicknames to everyone, "It doesn't matter! Just tell me why you think this can end in any way but your dumb-es getting expelled or quitting?"
Kaibara frowned, folding his arms and looking pretty high and mighty offended for somebody who thought he could make -kbuddies work in the Hero Course.
"Tsuburaba and I are friends, and if we want to do… thatwhen we hang out, then you have no right to even know about it!"
"No, I don't," Katsuki admitted, smirking, "But I was stupid like you once, so I'd hoped you'd be able to learn from my mistakes and not your own. If you're really gonna be a Hero, you need to be willing to commit! -buddies end badly for everyone. You ever wonder why sex isn't an olympic sport? It's more intimate than a good spar, and it's more personal than any speech. Say you make it work for a bit. A semester or so. Then one of you will catch feelings, and the other will fool around with someone else. Then you'll have all your feelings hurt, and something's gonna give. And you won't just kill your own career then. Some important training's gonna get screwed up because you've got a grudge. A mission's gonna end up with someone dead because your mind was on your hurt feelings. You'll take down the others in 1-B because you couldn't keep it in your pants. If you and him aren't willing to at least make the poor -er your official and public boytoy, bare -ing minimum, then get out of the Hero Course right now so someone who's willing to sacrifice can get in."
His tirade over, Katsuki turned to leave.
"It's too late."
Freezing, he turned back, raising an eyebrow rather than asking.
Kaibara sighed, rubbing his forehead and shaking his head.
"About catching feelings and things going bad," he clarified, getting to his feet, "You might be an unbearable -hole, but you're not wrong… I just- I know he won't feel the same way, and it'll go away sooner or later, so while it lasts-"
"Don't be a coward either. There are villains who'll kill you for that alone," Katsuki whispered, feeling himself grow cold and looking into the distance.
"Monoma said you fought a bad one, but he wouldn't say who or how. Was it really that bad?"
Coming back to himself, Katsuki shook his head.
"He was a prick," he insisted, "But he… he had conviction. He froze an entire street of pros with just his words. I clubbed him over the head with my gauntlets, but it was a lucky hit. Bastard killed without hesitation or remorse, and he took any excuse for it. Not strong enough, not dedicated enough, probably even if you aren't grimey enough."
Kaibara's forehead scrunched up, confusion radiating off his shoulders as he pieced together who the villain could have been.
"That sounds like… but I thought the news said Stain got taken down by a group after he took out a train?" Kaibara said, shaking his head, "Like, some retired Hero and his sidekicks and some civilian who saved someone's life when he held them hostage? They said that they couldn't legally release any names, or some bureaucratic bull like that."
"Psh. How would Stain hurt a bullet train? Are you half-baked? Endeavor was trying to beat him and crashed a helicopter into it 'cause he was pissy he was losing. Some old bugger and Deku ran into him later," Katsuki spat, thinking of his old friend, "Ears and Deku managed to beat him around until he got tired or something. They didn't tie him up properly though, and when all the Pros got there: he broke out and I had to club 'im. There wasn't anything flashy about it, and if any of us had been wishy-washy about it: we'd be dead."
Turning, Katsuki crackled his hands and launched back into the air.
"Break over! Training begins now!" he shouted, flying down and kicking Monoma's shins, "I'm done playin' therapist for the day, so don't come whining to me if you hurt!"
Grabbing the hunched over 1-B ring leader by his shirt and belt, he slammed Monoma's head into Tsuburaba's gut, winding the guy and rendering him useless.
"Rush 'im!" Kirishima screamed, hardening up and starting to box at him.
The others came in at dead sprints, with a pair of gentle arms wrapping around his torso. Grabbing Hagakure's wrists, he twisted and tossed her off, deftly dodging each attack as they fought to catch him. None of them had the maneuverability to tag him easily, which was the whole point of the exercise.
Yawning for dramatic effect, Katsuki showed that even with one hand he could play keep away with the best of 'em, evading each acid toss, tape shot, punch, shield, and even the rocks Hagakure was tossing periodically. The real difficulty was in not hurting them. He had to avoid hitting any of them with a blast (aside from Kirishima, who could take it like a champ), and his Judo was a little… out of practice.
"How… how do you find this fun?" the invisible girl asked, again visible as she'd put her jacket back on.
"Training is not supposed to be fun!" he shouted, before catching himself and swallowing his anger.
Best Jeanist had been tough on him, but one thing he had noticed while they were patrolling was… no one cheered for him. They were all scared of him, or seemed to despise him. He had to find a way to make people confident he would save the day; that he was the best of the best, which meant… talking their language.
"If you're here to have fun, you'll never get better," Katsuki tried again, clenching his fists a little to keep calm, "And that's why I train. I might not have trouble pounding all of you into the dirt, but it's not exactly a cakewalk kickin' your -ses without blowing you to the moon."
"That… and… you want us to make it to the summer camp… right Bakubro?" Kirishima asked, out of breath.
"Shut your hole, -ty Hair," he snapped, "I'm only keepin' you around because I can actually blast you. You're the only one here who can take a hit and not whine about it."
"Thanks, Best Buddy!"
Ashido seemed to pout at that.
"B-but I thought I was your bestest buddy?" she asked, her lower lip shaking with anguish.
While the horn couple babbled apologies and almost cried, Katsuki turned to check on the others. They were at least improving, and he didn't have time to correct every little mistake. He wasn't a teacher for crying out loud! It wasn't his job to make these morons better heroes!
"Soy-Sauce Face! Streaker!" he called out, gesturing for them to attend to him, "You two need to stop trying to hit me. You're not going to, and you're too predictable. Figure out what you gotta do."
He turned to the not-couple.
"Handyman, Huffy: get some actual teamwork next time, and maybe you'll be a threat. You got good offense and good defense, but only if an idiot comes who can't dodge. Sort yourselves."
Finally he checked on Monoma.
"Mouthy-"
"Since when are you in charge?!" he asked, folding his arms and glancing around, "And what makes you think your advice is worth anything? You're always like "Grr, Deku Deku Deku, grr, Imma kill you all! Blam Blam! I'm the bestiestest ever! Arg! Die Die Die!""
A couple snorts and chuckles came from the others, which shut off instantly when he glared around at them.
"I sound nothing like that, Mouthy."
"Yes. That's why we're laughing. Because you sound nothing like that," Ashido giggled.
Rounding on her, Katsuki crackled his palm again, grinning like a madman.
"Look who just lost her kneecap privileges."
(10 am)
"So this is… u-substitution?" Kyoka asked, pointing at the elongated S shape on Ectoplasm's homework.
"You can try that," Midori nodded, wobbling his head side-to-side, "But I think you want to try integration by parts on this one."
Yaomomo nodded, looking at her with a tenderness that made her heart skip a beat. Kyoka started twirling her jack around her finger faster than before, trying not to turn red. Sure, she could get Midori back if he tried to tease her, but Uraraka- Ochako… she was scary.
What was Kyoka supposed to do, get Ochako to let her get away with it out of pity while she was stuck on her own bedroom's ceiling? Sure, it might work on someone as kind-hearted as Ochako, but it would be humiliating in front of her… kinda-girlfriend. What a thought, Yaomomo was hovering somewhere between her best friend and her girlfriend. The former she hoped would have happened in any event, but… seriously, wow. Someone lame like her and probably the reincarnation of Amaterasu or something.
Shaking her head a little to clear it of thoughts regarding how divine her crushes were (perhaps even literally in some cases), Kyoka quickly labeled the u and dv, writing out the various bits of information she'd need to solve the equation Ectoplasm had decided to torture them with. It was about the six minute mark when she realized she'd been writing the same conversion over and over.
"Um… can one of the geniuses explain how to break a time loop?" she asked, glancing up and frowning at the others.
Midori was currently curled over his own homework, but as he'd tried to look up and help her: Ochako had been disturbed from her place laying against his side and shoulder, and he'd put himself back down for her sake, shooting Kyoka an apologetic smile. Ochako, for her part, recognized her mistake and mouthed a "sorry" to her, which seemed genuine enough, but didn't stop her from continuing to lounge against her boy. Luckily, Yaomomo was ready and willing to help.
Sliding over until their shoulders brushed, Yaomomo brought her pencil over and tapped the spot where her new equation matched what she'd been given in the first place.
"See, if you set this equal to what it is," she explained, writing it out for her clear of the other scratch work, "Then you just have to bring it across."
Combining like terms… that was simple though. Too simple. Still, Kyoka gave it a try.
"Then if you-"
"It's just the original times 2," Kyoka cut her off, mumbling her way through it as she rewrote it again, "So if I divide by the other side… that's it?"
Yaomomo nodded, positively glowing with pride.
"That's it, Jiro."
Flicking her eyes over to the other lovebirds in the room, Kyoka decided to give Ochako a little push.
"It's Kyoka," she informed Yaomomo, leaning up to place a small peck on her cheek.
Her almost-girlfriend's face went up in crimson, her eyes sparkling with so many emotions it was kind of spectacular to watch. Of course, Kyoka wasn't done.
"Watch this," she whispered, giving her a wink before turning to the other two.
"That goes for anyone I've kissed, by the way: Midori," she called, grinning as her plan took effect.
"Eh?" he managed, his face going from a fading pink to a burning red as he realized what she'd implied.
Midori managed to stay sitting up for about another four seconds before he toppled sideways and impacted the floor. Ochako let out a little squeak of surprise as her backrest slid away, twisting to try and avoid falling before she impacted Midori's hip and came to a stop.
Kyoka could only just see them staring at one another, Ochako more or less on top of him now. Holding up a hand for Yaomomo to see, she lowered each finger slowly, counting down from five. She'd miscounted, and at "two" the pair rocketed apart; Ochako curling up into a ball and making it to the corner of the room's ceiling, while Midori skidded across the ground before his head bumped the wall and he winced, rubbing the spot.
She tried not to laugh, she really did, but they were just such dorks. Yaomomo was smiling too, but she kept silent.
"Hey!" Ochako objected, peeking from between her arms, "I don't laugh at you when… when this happens!"
Grinning even wider, Kyoka got up and jogged over to the bed below Ochako, hopping onto it and grabbing her wrist. Pulling the gravity girl down a bit, she smirked and placed a kiss on her cheek too.
"Just so you don't feel left out," she smirked, smirking past Ochako's grumpy-faced response, "And it'd be more fun if you did laugh, just sayin'."
Ochako glared at her for a moment, which suited Kyoka just fine. Even if she couldn't exactly twist her around a finger like Uwabami's cameramen, she could still bother Ochako. She dropped back down, grabbing her homework and going back to working on it with Momo's help, when she finally retaliated.
"Okay then, Kyoka," she said, her voice sinister and kinda scary, "Why don't we call Shiozaki over to come study too? I'm sure she'd be a lot of fun to have around. Maybe Kaminari and Kendo too?."
Uwabami's training kept her from panicking, but Kyoka felt all the blood leave her face, despite her expression not changing. Ochako was probably all talk, but… hot people were dangerous, especially when they were close.
"J- Kyoka?" Yaomomo asked, tapping her shoulder, "You seem rather pale. Are you alright?"
"I- Fine-" she squeaked, managing a nod, "Um… I think that's enough math for a bit, don't you?"
Yaomomo's frown seemed to suggest she thought otherwise, but relented with a shrug.
"Very well. What subject should we move to instead? Midoriya, do you have a preference? I believe you should have the opportunity to select our next topic, what with your aiding us during the last few."
Thank all the gods, including whoever Shiozaki's was and Yaomomo herself for the Yaoyorozu-brand practicality. Kyoka felt herself relaxing as the familiar logic of her bestie filled the room, knowing even Ochako was susceptible to her good sense.
Midori got that contemplative look again, and started his usual pattern. First he'd be speaking fairly intelligibly, then it would turn into mutters she could pick up, before eventually devolving into words she could hear but not understand.
"Well, I'm mostly in the above average categories for all of our classes except for the practical ones," he muttered, pulling out the pocket notebook Yaomomo had made him and starting to write down what he was saying for future reference or showing other people, "So I would normally suggest we do some sort of physical practice or perhaps timed scenario training, but we're not allowed to use our Quirks off of school grounds or in privacy, and I don't want to risk damaging the Jiros' home. Not to mention Ukiyo has improved significantly to the point I might call it fully integrated and my Stockpile should have enough finesse to at least begin showing results in class. I would like to train Blackwhip, but it's still an unknown and could potentially harm someone if left unchecked. I suppose we could do some Quirkless sparring, utilizing our Judo skills, but I don't know if Kyoka and Yaoyorozu would be able to enjoy or benefit from it, especially since my ability to teach is highly suspect. Further, we don't really have a good place to practice anything physical, even if we were capable of doing so. Perhaps we could try learning from Kyoka how to utilize some of her acting capabilities? My inability to relax around unfamiliar or particularly beautiful women is most definitely a shortcoming, despite my progress in not clamming up around Senchan and the others in our class. Senchan said she was going to help me with that though, so maybe it would come across as rude to replace her offer by accepting Kyoka's?"
Sliding her jack over, Kyoka stabbed him in the arm, vibrating it hard and causing him to freeze up as his muscles tensed involuntarily. A few dark tentacles emerged from his shirt, waving and reaching at her jack as it retracted, before he slapped his hand over them and the energy dissipated.
"Oh, is Blackwhip still bothering you?" Yaomomo asked, concern in her voice as she half-reached towards him.
""Blackwhip?"" Kyoka asked, smirking a little at the obvious name before her brain registered the rest of the sentence, "Wait- bothering? Midori, that part of your Quirk hurts you?"
Midori itched his head, looking a little more embarrassed than usual, which was saying something.
"Well… kinda? More like it doesn't trust me yet," he explained, shrugging with an apologetic look on his face, "I think it's kinda partially sentient, like how Dark Shadow used to be when I unlocked it? That or I'm just bad at controlling it. It doesn't hurt anymore; at least when I keep the percent lined up with the length."
Raising her eyebrows a little, Kyoka smirked and waited for him to realize what he'd said. He was dense alright, but after a few seconds of staring at her and Yaomomo slapping her shoulder; Midori blanched.
"I-I mean the number and reach of the tendrils!" he protested, waving his arms like a madman, "I wouldn't- that's not-"
Ochako fanned herself, blushing but not speaking. Interesting… so she could be affected by Kyoka's skills, just not so bluntly.
"Well, I have no doubt it will become more… comfortable, with one another, once you become better acquainted," Yaomomo assured him, laying a hand on his shoulder and giving him a comforting smile.
Poor guy squeaked at the contact, but didn't pull away or say anything to stop her. Kind of a dork, if Kyoka was being honest. Definitely her type, or one of her types. Fortunately for both of them: the bro code said she couldn't move in while Ochako was on him, and she was content with trying to romance Yaomomo at the moment.
"I wonder if Todoroki had a similar issues?" the Heiress wondered aloud, "With his own dual Quirk, that is. His ice use has quite an impressive spectrum, what with the glaciers on the larger end and the temperature control with his fire on the more precise."
"Yeah, have you asked him for help?" Kyoka wondered, tapping her jacks together almost like someone might snap their fingers as they got an idea, "You've got some range too, yeah? Those pincer things are short, but Yaomomo said you were able to hang from the ceiling yesterday. Wait, or was that a small one too?"
Ochako and Midori glanced at one another, before giving her a confused look.
"How would it work with a small one?" she asked, jerking a thumb towards Midori, "His whip things have to wrap around stuff for him to hang off them."
"He was able to make them adhesive yesterday," Yaomomo interjected, "While he was producing several of significant length, and at one point extended a lone pair to the ceiling, they seemed to be quite strenuous for him."
"Callouses, right," he mumbled, looking at his hand for a moment, "But maybe…"
Standing up, Midori held his hand towards the roof, fingers curled slightly upward like he was holding an invisible ball. With a little jump, he pressed the fingertips to the ceiling and stuck. For a moment, Kyoka thought he was floating, but the way his legs dangled seemed different from when he went all zen with the universe and stopped walking.
A strange sound caught her jacks' attention, prompting Kyoka to wave them around just a bit, the ends seeking the source. They quickly came to a stop pointed at his hand. The buzzing seemed to come through more on her right jack than her left, which was odd; as the damaged jack was a little more finicky as of late. Extending them a little further until they were both only a few centimeters from his hand, Kyoka frowned and tried to figure out what she was hearing.
"K-kyoka?" Midori asked, his voice annoyingly loud in her jacks.
"Shh!" she whispered, holding up a finger and closing her eyes to focus.
She heard Midori's fingers relax and the buzzing stopped, then the slight whistle of air as he dropped to the ground, and the thump of his shoes against the carpet. She frowned and shook her head.
"What were you doing to stick like that?" she asked, opening her eyes and retracting her jacks.
Midori showed her his palm, and the buzzing came back. She narrowed her eyes, noticing the black energy he was keeping along the pads of his fingers, not really as tendrils or whips but more like a sort of goop or thin aura.
"I can't really do big moves yet," he explained, closing his hand and letting out four finger-length whips from his knuckles instead, "But you mentioned how Todoroki had some finer control too, so I thought… well, if it's sticky and grabbing the ceiling with a big one isn't viable…"
He shrugged, and retracted his energy. Kyoka noticed the buzzing had become louder and less sharp when he'd made the tendrils, putting two-and-two together.
"Hey, could I get you all to do me a quick favor?" she asked, deciding to test her theory, "I think I can help you with your Quirks, kinda like you did with the group a few days ago, but… I have to check something first."
Ochako gave her a thumbs up, followed by Yaomomo and Midori's bright and eager nods. Kyoka inhaled and glanced around, trying to figure out how to go about it. She didn't want to waste time, so…
"Yaomomo?" she asked, bringing her right jack over to hover near her forearm, "Can you make a steel bar? Kinda like the one you fight with, but about half as thick and… like twenty centimeters? Right near my jack, o'course."
A gentle hum came through her Quirk, right as the pink, bubbly light began to glow and the bar emerged. It sounded comfortable, even happy. Kind of like Yaomomo's whole aura, really. It also meant her theory might be working.
"Kay, now Ochako," Kyoka said, bowing her head in thanks as she took the bar and handed it to the gravity girl, "You don't, ah… have to do anything but touch stuff for yours, right? No intention or control, right?"
"Not that I'm aware of," Ochako shook her head, letting Kyoka get her jack into place by her fingers before placing all of them on the bar, "I just kinda… touch and go."
Ochako's Quirk sounded more like a soft ding and a whistle. The others' were kind of like a string instrument, where the notes flowed into one another, but hers was much more like a solid note. Yes or No, On or Off. Binary. But at the same time, the whistle seemed like it… moved. Like the energy moved through the object.
"And off," Kyoka mumbled, grabbing the bar so when it fell it wouldn't dent the floor.
"Release," Ochako whispered, probably not wanting to distract the jack too much.
The return of gravity didn't have an obvious accompanying sound, but her jack's proximity let her pick up the ever so slight ping, the inverse of the first note.
"Neat… an A4, by the way," Kyoka said, handing the bar over to Midori, "Which just leaves you, Mr. Multi-Quirk. Gimme a sec and I'll check yours."
If that wasn't the third-most adorable pout Kyoka'd ever seen… but she had work to do.
"Ochako, your activation's kind of on-and-off, but… I don't think you're limited to one object," Kyoka explained, considering how to put it, "Your Quirk sounds… kind of like it's filling the thing up with it's sound. The object itself floats, but… I think that if you kept your hand on something the zero-gravity energy or whatever would like… flow into it? I dunno, here."
Picking up her drumsticks, Kyoka held one in her hand and offered out the other one. Ochako took it, careful to keep a finger free. They placed the ends together and Kyoka nodded. The chime returned, but Ochako held on. As Kyoka suspected, the whistling remained, though very faint. It seemed to remain in the first stick for a heartbeat, then it flowed outward into the next. She could still feel it's weight though.
Waiting, Kyoka listened to the energy move across, the cautious nature of the flow making her think it was because Ochako wasn't expecting success. Well, that would hopefully go away when-
Then the tone changed again, and she felt the ever-so-slight loss of weight in her hand, and the tone moving into her own hand. Based on how slow it was, Kyoka knew they'd never get her in the air before bedtime, and they weren't even staying that long. Instead, she let go of the stick, letting it float away; much to Ochako's shock.
"Whoa!"
"Looks like you have to fill up an object with Zero-G before it moves out to something else. That's why you usually only float one thing or complex objects meshed together, and some things float away faster than others," she explained, tapping the floating stick with her jack, "It also was pretty slow. You'll have to mean to get both next time or… something, I dunno how this works, it just sounds-"
"Thank you, Kyoka-san," Ochako interrupted her, releasing the objects.
Nodding, Kyoka turned back to Midori, trying not to blush that she'd panicked just then. Uwabami would be so disappointed in her.
"Okay, your turn. Um… just do your lightning thing and… twist it into a knot or something," she told him, gesturing to the bar in his hands.
Sighing, Midori lit up his "Full Cowl," letting loose a high-pitched whistle before the crackling into effect. Kyoka flinched a little as he powered up, the sound a bit sharp. As he tried to bend the metal, the whistle came back, amping up a little until it was starting to hurt to listen to.
"Okay, ow," Kyoka complained, retracting her jacks and rubbing at them to try and soothe the irritation, "Out of curiosity, how much are you putting into… that?"
"Um… 5%?" he said, a bit of worry in his tone, "Why, was it bad?"
Kyoka shook her head, pursing her lips as she tried to figure out what that meant. It was pretty high, but…
"Okay, turn it back on as low as you can and sort of… amp it up. Bit at a time, and I'll tell you when you're straining your body too far, kay?"
Midori nodded and turned the energy back on, but much less sharp than before. She noticed the sound shook a lot more though, like someone who wasn't blowing hard enough into a wind instrument.
"This is 1%," he informed her, before the sound raised in pitch and stabilized a bit, "That's 2."
They moved up to 5 again, with Kyoka wincing each time he jumped percentages before it leveled off. She noticed the more power he put into the energy gave it more stability, but also strained more. When he got to 6%, it was actually starting to hurt a little, but was a very constant tone. 7 caused her to grab her jacks with her hands, her head ringing from the tone.
"Okay, go back to six," she mumbled, rolling the metal bits between her thumb and forefinger, "Seven was too much, and I'm pretty sure you'll hurt yourself if you use it. Plus, it sounded like some of the sound was… I dunno, cracking? Like, the energy was being let out more."
"That sounds about right…" Midori mumbled, snapping out a short whip to pull over his notepad and starting to jot down his words, "5% is about where my body can handle it, and at 30% when I unlocked it: it released a lot of air pressure rather than what I'd call physical strength, so it's possible when it gets to the point my body can't handle anymore it has an emergency outlet of sorts, like a release valve in a dam to let out enough energy to prevent too much damage. Since it only let out a little at 7%, we can assume it's always active, but proportional to the energy release. In theory, 100% might be so powerful to destroy my arm almost entirely, but the outlet would be so explosive to limit the damage that while I might get off with just some broken bones: the air pressure release might be enough to destroy something like the Zero-Point Robot, even if I didn't actually hit-."
Reaching over, Kyoka grabbed his notebook right in front of his pencil, stopping him and trying not to strangle him with her still-aching jacks.
"You can go to 6% safely. You're welcome. Please shut up before I kill you for the sweet silence that would come after," she sighed, giving him a pleading look.
Luckily for Midori, he had enough self-preservation instincts to shut up, letting go of his energy and holding his hands up in surrender. After a moment, she nodded and let go of the paper.
"Okay. You can… say whatever you need to now," she allowed him, still holding her jack tips in an effort to ease the irritation.
Midori seemed hesitant, looking at her jacks uncertainly. Before she could insist it would be okay for him to ask whatever he needed to though, a cool hand touched hers. She nearly jumped at the sensation, before noticing it was just Yaomomo, taking her jack away from her and cupping it in her hand.
"You seemed comfortable with my Quirk's sound," she said, smiling a little, "Would it ease you to hear it again?"
Kyoka nodded. It would certainly be better than just rubbing her jack tips for a bit and hoping the sound went away.
The hum returned, and a hint of cool air hit her sensitive, metal sensors. She glanced to Yaomomo, who smiled and held out her hand for the other. Kyoka accepted immediately, sighing as her soon-to-be girlfriend restored her hearing.
"I'm creating air," Yaomomo explained, cupping the other jack which was more attuned to Quirk sounds, "I can't manufacture pressure, but a nitrogen-oxygen gas is quite simple to produce and fairly easy on my lipids. Since you seemed to be more comfortable with Quirk sounds that are easy on the user's body, I figured it would be a nice way to give you some constant comfort while you recovered."
Nodding, Kyoka relaxed against the wall, leveling a finger at her lazily.
"You're gonna have to do this again for me sometime. And you've definitely earned some kind of thank you," she informed her, "Cuddles at the very least."
Turning to face the now hot-faced cinnamon rolls, Kyoka smirked again and pointed to them.
"Ochako, I hope you're taking notes on how to steal physical affection from your crush," she teased, wiggling her eyebrows a little.
A few squeaks were all she could come up with before turning and burying her face in Midori's shoulder, much to his embarrassment. To his credit though: he did reach around to hold her back, almost protectively.
It's almost too easy with these two.
Shrugging, Kyoka reached up and placed her hands over Yaomomo's, easing them free of her jacks. She couldn't afford to get negligent.
"Well either way, since I know some of your secrets now, it's only fair you know one of mine," she yawned, getting up and stretching a little, "Get into a little circle or something, and watch carefully."
While the others got into position, Kyoka prepared to control her aura like Uwabami had taught her. Instead of creating a seductive, desirable, fearful, or intimidating energy like she had before though, she tried some of the new tricks she'd been practicing. Now all she needed was a single moment of invisibility.
Once they were all seated in their new positions, Kyoka gave them the thumbs up and started strolling around them. First she passed behind Yaomomo, who twisted to watch her, before turning around to see more comfortably. The moment she lost sight of Kyoka, Yaomomo's expression turned to one of confusion. She looked around the entire room, brow furrowed and rotating her body around to try and locate her.
Midori and Ochako had been watching her go around her almost-girlfriend, but when she started to act strange their gazes had flicked instinctively to the Heiress. That was all she needed. Once they turned to find her again, their eyes slid past and around her, looking everywhere but where she was.
"How did she-"
"That wasn't-"
"Holy-"
"Kyoka, where did you-"
"Right here," Kyoka beamed, leaning around Yaomomo's other side and holding her shoulders.
The three of them jumped in alarm, Midori actually flying backwards a bit as he activated his Quirk involuntarily, the almost imperceptible whisper of its energy so relaxed that Kyoka expected it would be silent even to her if he wasn't so alarmed and she was specifically trying to hear it.
"Was that some kind of new Quirk?!" Midori asked, alarmed but evidently interested beyond his fear.
"How could it be, invisibility has nothing to do with her jacks?!" Ochako protested, looking a bit scared.
Kyoka winked, sitting down beside Yaomomo and resting her head on her shoulder as she picked up their textbooks again.
"Aura control," she explained, seeing Midori's expression light up, "But instead of projecting an emotion or something for others to pick up on, I repress it until I seem like part of the background. It works best in crowds or open spaces, since if I make a sound or move too quick: you'll find me again otherwise, but once you lose eye-contact… well, you don't know what you're looking for anymore."
The others stared at her, amazed and a little scared. Kyoka just kept smiling. She would have to rely on support gear and technique to keep up with some of the heavier hitters in class, so knowing she could at least pull a fast one on some of the frontrunners was a definite and much-needed ego boost.
"Wanna learn how?"