KYOKA POV
No one had seen or heard from Izuku all week. Everytime time anyone called it went straight to voicemail, he must have turned it off. Class has been utter hell since Saturday night, the usual cheer and laughter that would fill the common area and class were gone. We were all too distracted worrying about Izuku.
Everyday Momo, Uraraka, Todoroki, and myself would go out and look for him, but we never found anything. We weren't the only ones looking, Mama Joke and Pops reached out to all of their contacts as well, but none of them had found anything. It was like Izuku disappeared off the face of the Earth.
Mama Joke was a complete mess, when I called her to tell her Izuku left she rushed over to hear everything. I expected her to be furious with me, but instead she comforted me and told me everything would be alright. I was shocked, I caused all this and she comforted me. I didn't deserve that treatment from her.
My parents weren't as understanding, when I first told them what happened they immediately thought Izuku had hurt me again. They were prepared to be done with him for good, but once they heard everything their tunes changed. Dad didn't hold anything against Izuku, but he swore that I did nothing wrong. Mom on the other hand didn't baby me, she told me that I messed up. It hurt, but I needed to hear it.
Uraraka was hard to handle, one minute she's giving me death glares and the next she's asking me about everything from Izuku's past. I answered any questions she had, at this point there was no need to hide anything. She took it more or less how I expected, a lot of tears. Surprisingly her spirits were lifted when I told her that Izuku had planned to tell her everything when things calmed down.
The culture festival preparations were more or less at a stand still. We no longer had the drive or motivation for it. Pops continued to urge us to press forward, but it was easier said than done. We did manage to practice some the night before the festival, but it was rough, no one's head was in it. After a couple hours we called it a night and decided to go again in the morning hoping that we would find any form of motivation, but I knew it wouldn't be that simple.
The morning of the festival had arrived and the common area had more energy than it had in awhile. Some people seemed to have caught the festival fever while others were just trying to distract themselves. It must be nice to be able to forget that easily.
The little amount of time we had to practice was quickly passing. Teaching Sero how to run sound at the last second wasn't going well. He was taking too long to make adjustments and couldn't get our monitor's right, more often than not I had to run and adjust it for everyone. I knew my monitor wasn't going to be right, I was going to have to focus extra hard to not mess up.
Once everything got started practice was still ruff, I could tell with my quirk that the house mix was off. All the balances were wrong and everything clashed. It was causing the dance team to be out of time. I couldn't focus on my singing, everything was falling apart. This was going to be a complete embarrassment.
"Izuku... I wish you were here right now."
This wasn't working, I needed to fix the sound so it would at least be passable. As I was setting my guitar down the door to the gym opened up. It was still way too early for people to come in, the show wasn't for another hour. It was likely just one of our teachers coming to check on us to make sure everything was ok.
"Don't you dare step off that stage."
Everything froze, everyone's attention turned to the voice that had entered. A mix of emotions filled the air as no one knew what exactly to think.
"Izuku... you're here."
All eyes were on him as he casually walked to the soundboard as if nothing had happened. It was obvious we didn't know how to act right now as we all just stared at him blankly. We weren't the only ones though, I could hear Izuku's heart beating incredibly fast. He was trying his best to keep a calm expression as he took over for Sero.
"What's everyone staring at, we're on in a little over an hour so let's get to work... also I'm sorry... about everything."
Everyone stared at him for a moment, not sure how to react, but Kirishima was the first to break the silence with a smile and laugh.
"You heard the man, let's get to work!"
With a cheer everyone quickly got in place, the energy in our class was back. While I was grabbing my guitar I felt a hand on my shoulder.
"Are you ok Kyo?"
I smiled at her before drying my eyes. "Yeah, I'm just glad he's back." Taking a deep breath I smacked my cheeks. "Alright Momo let's rock this house."
Practice started up again and it was going smoothly, the energy had been restored and everyone was motivated to get it done right. I found it near impossible to take my eyes off of Izuku as we worked. I was worried that it was all a dream and that he would disappear if I looked away for even a second. Even from the stage I was able to make out his annoyed mannerism as he listened to the mix. It didn't take long for him to quickly get to work and make everything sound great.
With the house finally to his liking we gestured to the monitors in front of me. He must have figured they weren't to my liking just by looking at the levels. I couldn't help but smile as we silently communicated, I was happy that he knew what I wanted just from simple movements.
During practice he was approached by a few people, even with my quirk it was hard to make out what was said with all the noise. Todoroki and Kirishima gave him a run down of everything they had planned so that he could help mix accordingly. The things they had planned wouldn't affect it too much so their conversation ended rather quickly. Mina attempted to make small talk with him, but it didn't go far since he was focusing on the sound.
When our practice time came to an end we all felt confident for our show. Everyone had started to break off into groups, but I decided to hang back. I wanted to talk to him, to be with him, but I couldn't, I didn't want to ruin the atmosphere.
As everyone was talking the doors to the gym opened up and Mama Joke came rushing in looking absolutely exhausted. She broke into tears the instant she saw Izuku and threw her arms around him. Most everyone stared in confusion, but again I could only smile. She hadn't slept much since Izuku left, all she did was look for him. Watching the waves of relief wash over her was beautiful. It was too bad that the beautiful atmosphere was ruined by her shoving a needle into his neck. The shock factor left all of us stunned, well all of us except Izuku. He only laughed. Apparently she injected some form of tracker into him and based off of history it was a good idea.
Once Mama Joke had her fill, Pops walked up and put his hand on Izuku's head. Their silent acknowledgment was all they needed. Clinging to Pop's leg was Eri who was nervously watching Izuku. When he noticed her, he crouched down to her eye level.
Eri was slow to approach, after Izuku left she blamed herself for his leaving. She thought he left because she didn't listen right away and that made her scared to see him again. Izuku gave her a smile and she ran to him in tears. She apologized for everything and begged him not to leave again. Izuku agreed to her promise as he picked her and then apologized for lying to her about his quirk. Eri. Nodded into his chest and told him that it was ok. Pops and Mama Joke had explained everything to Eri, they weren't sure how much of it she really understood, but that could be left for another time.
The gym was dark and there was a rumbling through the crowd. From the stage it looked as if every student had forced themselves in here. It was impossible to make out any one's faces at the moment. The crowd was a void of darkness, except for one dim light towards the back. Izuku was standing at the soundboard with his headphones on, Eri was sitting on his shoulders with sounds canceling headphones that were connected to the board. With a single hand raised he counted down from five on his fingers, when they hit zero I took a final deep breath. The show was finally starting and I was ready to sing my heart out.
Concerts are an amazing thing to go to. The rush of the crowd and the screams of joy when your favorite song is played is an unending hit of dopamine. It's easy to get addicted to that feeling, but playing a show is a completely different beast.
All the nerves and jitters build up and suffocate you, they make you scared to go out on that stage. Trembling hands and scratchy throats flood your head with doubts, but they all fade the instant those lights turn on and that first chord rings out. Hearing that crowd cheer for you and scream the lyrics of their favorite songs makes all those worries a thought of the past. The heat from lights thaw any cold fingers allowing them to gracefully dance up and down the fretboard. The smiling faces of people having the time of their lives makes you want to put on a show they would never forget.
If going to a concert is a hit of dopamine then playing is a state of euphoria and that's only from the first song.
With each passing song the crowd got more and more hyped. Their energy fed all of us and gave us the encouragement to give it right back. That beautiful storm was exactly what you would dream of when playing a show and now we were living it. We couldn't have asked for a better set up for our final song, the original song that I wrote.
I'd be lying if I said the nerves didn't come back right before we started our final song, but those were blown away the moment I saw Izuku give me an encouraging nod. That was all the encouragement I needed.
Our original song was a major success, it was probably the biggest song we played. We pulled out all the stops for crowd interaction Todoroki made a runway of ice that Sero attached his tape to allow people that Uraraka had made weightless to hang off of. Aoyama flew around the room as a human disco ball while Kirishima made it snow by finely shaving a block of ice. Even Momo shot streamers mid song and of course Bakugo put on the occasional pyrotechnic show while drumming. It was a memory that none of us would ever forget.
"You know Momo, you always hear people talk about how amazing concerts are and how they are once in a lifetime experiences, but you never hear them talk about how much of a bitch it is to clean up the mess after."
"That's probably because they don't want to ruin everyone's good time."
"Yeah, but imagine how big of a pain this would be if it was a sold out stadium. This was just a gym and we've been doing this for almost half an hour."
"Yeah, but we're almost done, then we get to enjoy the festival."
I nodded in agreement. "Yeah, it will be a fun day."
Momo smiled before she started to hum. "So have you talked to Midori yet?"
"No, I don't know what to say and I don't want to make things awkward."
"You do realize you're going to have to talk to him at some point."
"Yeah, but I'd rather push it off for today."
Momo sighed before she stopped to pick up another chunk of ice. Most of the cleanup we had was breaking down and melting Todorokis ice. It wasn't difficult, just tedious which made it annoying.
As Momo and I finished loading up a few more chunks of ice I heard small footsteps approaching me. I pretended not to hear them hoping to not scare her. Only after I felt a gentle tap on my back did I turn around to see Eri standing nervously. I gave her a reassuring smile before squatting to her eye level.
"Did you enjoy the concert Eri?"
She quickly nodded with an excited smile. "It was amazing and you sounded so pretty!"
I blushed slightly at her words. "Thanks Eri, that means a lot. Is that all you wanted to tell me?
She shook her head No before fiddling with her fingers. "Are you still going to walk around the festival with me and big brother?"
I drew back a little before looking around the gym. Izuku was talking with Pops and Mama Joke so he probably didn't realize Eri had wandered over here.
"I... I don't know, I'm pretty tired after the show. I wouldn't want to slow you guys down."
Eri looked down a little dejected. "Oh.. ok."
I put a hand on her head. "I'm sorry Eri."
"It's ok."
Eri turned around and walked back over to Izuku. I really did want to spend time with her, but it would have been extremely awkward if it was just Izuku and me.
"Really Kyo, you're tired, is that really the best you could come up with?"
"Did you want me to tell her the real reason or would you want me to say yes and then have it be awkward the whole time?"
"The awkward one would be funny to watch."
I groaned as we started off towards the ice melting area. "Not helpful Momo."
She smirked playfully. "Never said I was trying to be."
"I really did corrupt you didn't I?"
"In more ways than one."
I gasped and looked at her in shock. "Momo!"
Momo laughed and blew me a kiss before running off to another group to help out, leaving me alone with a cart full of ice. I sighed again before I started to push the cart again, today was going to be an interesting day for sure.
When all of our work was done, it was finally time for us to enjoy the festivals. Hado was in the beauty pageant so I had to go see it. I brought Momo with me hoping to tease her, but I decided against it when I saw how she stared at Kendo during her time on stage. She did question why I was laughing to myself, but I told her it was nothing important.
The rest of the festival seemed to be the same as any other high school. Food stalls, maid cafes, haunted houses, and more littered the school grounds. There were a few things that stood out, the main thing being obstacle courses that allowed quirk usage. Those quickly became a battle ground to see who had the best time. It was wonderful watching everyone enjoy their time and forget about what had happened, after a week of turmoil we needed this.
The festival went ok until the sun started to set, it was a fun day that left everyone exhausted. I was included in that group, I hadn't realized how much that show had truly taken out of me. As I laid on my bed scrolling through the pictures and videos of the day I couldn't help but regret not spending any time with Izuku or Eri. Even if it would have been awkward I still would have liked to have a picture of all three of us. Time passed by and before I knew it, the sun had set and the moon out. I was ready for bed, I felt as if I could sleep for an entire day but just as I was getting comfy there was a soft knock on my door.
I debated ignoring them by pretending to be asleep, if it was important they would have called me. But a gut feeling told me to get up and see who it was, whoever it was better have a good reason for knocking at this time. When I opened the door I was stunned seeing who was at my door.
"Izu... I mean Midoriya, what are you doing here?"
"Can we talk?"
I continued to stare at him blankly as I tried to process what he had just said. When I finally processed what was said I stammered out a response. "I.. uh... sure, co... come in."
Izuku made his way to my desk chair and I sat on my bed. The tension in my room was palpable as neither of us knew what to say. He was rubbing his wrist while I twirled my jacks.
"You did great today..."
"Thank you... you really saved us today the sounded amazing..."
Again we were overtaken by silence. There was so much I wanted to say, but I didn't know where to begin and I didn't want to ramble everything off. Taking a deep breath, I steeled my nerves.
"I'm sorry."
"I'm sorry."
We both looked at eachother confused before laughing softly. Both apologizing at the same time by saying the same exact words was as cliché as it got, but it made sense that it would happen to us.
Izuku sighed before taking the lead in our conversation. "I'm sorry for everything, I wasn't being fair to you and the rest of the class. I know I forced a ton of stress onto everyone because I was being immature."
"No, it's my fault none of this would have happened if I hadn't snapped. Momo even tried to stop me but I just ignored her, if anything I put that stress on everyone."
"Me leaving caused the stress, if I had just been calm and explained everything we could have avoided all of this."
I looked to the ground and clenched my jacks. Neither of us were wrong, it was just a matter of perspective. We could go on apologizing to each other like this all night and not come to a conclusion. I needed to force this conversation along.
"Where did you go?"
He sighed as he stared out into the night sky. "I don't actually have a destination in mind. Originally I planned to return the next day and pretend as if nothing ever happened, but Simi put a stop to that."
"Simi, as in Yukihira?"
"Yeah."
I bit my thumb trying to hold back my emotions. It stung knowing that he was with her that entire time. They had gotten close enough to use each other's first names while he hadn't even used my last name since he got back. I hated it, I wanted to scream at him, but I was glad he was somewhere safe and not on the streets.
"How did she find you?"
"It was a complete chance encounter. I was at the park and she came to smell the night air. She could smell the alcohol on my breath and knew something was wrong. It started raining so she took me back to her place without giving me a choice, but truth be told I was so out of it that I didn't have the energy to fight back."
"What did her parents think?"
"As far as I know they have no clue I was even there, they were out of the country. They had some cooking event to go to."
"So it was just the two of you?"
I didn't like that at all. I would have been fine if her parents were there but just here wasn't right. It was no wonder they got so close.
"Just for the first night, after that Alas and Mio stayed over as well."
This was torture, he was using all of their names so casually. It ate at me from the inside, he could say everyone's names, but he refused to say mine. My heart felt like it was being ripped out, all I wanted was for him to call my name again.
Izuku laughed as he scratched the back of his head. "Those two are really something, they stayed just to make sure nothing happened between us."
I felt the pit in my stomach grow. I didn't want to ask, but I had to know.
"Did... did anything happen between you two?"
He looked away nervously. "I tried to kiss her, but she stopped me. She didn't want to do anything that would be regretted later."
The pain in my chest grew larger as I stared at the ground. I could feel tears trying to escape. "Why.. Why did you try to kiss her?"
"The mixture of alcohol and stress sent me into a spiral. I got into my own head and started saying some crazy things, but she pulled me out. I wasn't thinking, I just wanted to feel something that wasn't painful."
"Oh... I understand."
I didn't understand, but I didn't have the right to be mad. It was my mistake that pushed him to that point. I brought all that onto myself, so I had to keep everything inside for now.
"What did you do there? You were gone for almost a week."
"I told them the truth about everything. All three of them know my story now."
I looked up at Izuku shocked, I didn't expect him to do that especially after everything that happened.
"How did they take it?"
"Simi and Mio were in tears while Alas stayed composed throughout the story. Then Alas tore me a new one and gave me a lot to think about."
"Can I ask what you thought about?"
"I thought about a lot over the week. Life, family, the past, the future, and us."
My hands tightened up as I stared at the ground. My lip was quivering as I waited for it. I knew what was coming, I had been expecting it since he used my last name as he left. All the moisture had left my mouth so it was hard to get the words out.
"A... and?"
"I came to the conclusion that I am a despicable piece of shit that deserves to have his entrails strung up like garland on the mantle."
I looked up at him completely confused while not being able to hold in my laughter. He couldn't stifle his laughter either and in that moment my worries disappeared. It felt like old times.
"Oh my God, what does that even mean?"
"I don't know, it's what Alas called me and it felt right."
I wiped away a stray tear as I finally met his eyes for the first time since we sat down. His emerald eyes weren't shining, but they also weren't faded. They were filled with a determination that I couldn't put my finger on.
"Did you come to any conclusions... other than the despicable piece of shit thing?"
He nodded as he stood up. My heart rate skyrocketed as he walked over towards me. I had no clue what was happening, all my emotions were conflicting leaving me frozen. All I could do was sit there as he took the jack he scarred in his hands. He looked at it regretfully, while he traced his finger over the scar.
"Kyoka..."
My eyes widened at the sound of my name, tears began to run down my face uncontrollably. I hadn't heard him say my name in almost a week and it was killing me, but that long wait had come to an end.
"I still love you."
The tears didn't stop as I looked up at him. I was sure I had the ugliest cry face, but I didn't care. Izuku still loved me even after I betrayed him.
"But you deserve so much better. I've done unforgivable things to you and you continued to give me chance after chance after chance. But when you made one mistake I was ready to abandon ship because I 'couldn't trust you'. If anyone didn't deserve the trust it was me, not you, and I'm sorry for putting you through that. I left you not once, but twice and I left a scar on your beautiful jack, those are things I can't take back. I'm committed to getting better and earning your trust again, but I understand if you're done with me. I had plenty of chances and I squandered them all."
I couldn't take it any more, I lunged my face into his chest and held him tightly. The tears couldn't be held back, but I didn't care.
"I'm so sorry Izuku, I didn't want that to happen, but I couldn't stop myself! I never wanted to hurt you like that!"
Izuku laughed softly while he patted my head. His touch was warm and comforting, It felt like home.
"I already told you that it was my fault, there's no need to apologize. My refusal to listen to you caused all this to happen."
I looked up at him and shook my head no. I could feel the snot on my face but I didn't care at the moment.
"I don't care, I still feel terrible so I'm gonna apologize till you forgive me!"
Izuku sighed as we wiped the snot and tears off my face. He didn't look annoyed, he only smiled. I got lost in his emerald eyes and didn't notice him getting closer till his lips were pressed against mine. Instincts took over and I melted into him. When he pulled away a small laugh escaped from him.
"I can never win against you can I?"
I cupped his cheeks and shook my head. "No, you never will."
He sighed playfully as he brushed my hair behind my ears. "Well I guess I have no choice then. Kyoka, I forgive you for telling everyone about my quirk."
I smiled as the last few tears rolled down my cheeks. I couldn't believe that this was happening, it didn't feel real. But this was the same touch and voice that I knew from the first time he called me. This was Izuku and he was here with me.
"Thank you Izuku."
Again we kissed as our bodies melted into each other. Without separating we fell onto the bed as our tongues battled for dominance. It had been almost a week since we had seen each other and I was determined to make up for all the lost time. We were swallowed up by waves of bliss as the moonlight shined through the window. The night was still young, but time didn't matter as we lost ourselves in the other loving embrace.
Izuku was back and he didn't have to lie to everyone anymore. I knew it was going to be a long road ahead of us, but I knew everything would work out. I was determined to see this through to the end and help him become the best person he could be. For me this was a dream come true.