twenty — love in japan.
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
"it's everywhere."
y/n pulled her brows as she scrolled through the article carefully, "yeah." she said, face burning. "and it's like... solid, i think. but neither of them posted anything on twitter, nothing significant to their instagram or snapchat and jirou hasn't texted me, either."
she scrolled back up the article in question, heading reading:
band members kyouka and momo dating!? love in japan!
it was a stupid title. cheesy, not even good, the entire 'love in japan' thing made her scowl. as if. she moved down the page. people were pointing out the most recent forms of evidence if she could even call it that. so what if they were caught holding hands as they walked back to their vacation home? it could've been completely platonic, girls did that all the time. and so what if when jirou was asked if she had a partner in her most recent interview and she froze to look at momo. it didn't mean anything.
but, momo returned the look, a small smile sat on her lips and jirou faced the interviewer again, answering with a small smile, "yes, i have a lovely partner. she's amazing." with the way momo giggled afterward- it was pretty obvious the audience and all viewers were led to believe she was talking about her.
and when the interviewer asked, "is she sitting in the room right now?" jirou had laughed and said, 'next question.'
what the actual fuck was going on?
midoriya was suddenly across from her on the couch, cushion dipping with his weight. he sucked in a breath and said, "she tweeted."
y/n switched tabs from the article she was reading to jirou's twitter; her newest tweet showed up with the refresh of the page. her eyes widened, the tweet reading: happy <3
"momo tweeted the same thing." midoriya said quietly.
y/n's shoulders raised with a sharp inhale and dropping with her shaky exhale.
"oh sweetie, come here," midoriya's arms wrapped around her waist as he brought her wet face to his chest. "we don't know anything yet. did you text her? there could be a valid explanation for this..."
"it's just — she t-told me to wait," y/n said through her tears. she wrapped her arms around her friend's neck, head pressing to his chest and shaking against him. "she— she told me to wait, promised me she wouldn't be long and-and this comes out without a warning text. without an explanation and i swear to god if she gives me some shitty excuse, izuku... i— i feel like i'm being played with. like i don't matter to her even though—"
"i'm sure she cares about you and you definitely matter to her, babe. this entire thing is difficult because things like image and the industry," he pulled away to get his phone, biting his lip as he tapped his screen, "i'll text denki and shouto to see if kacchan knows anything?"
when he said that, y/n's phone buzzed violently— she was getting a call. she pulled away from izuku and quickly pulled it from her pockets, face going hot as she gripped the device tighter. "jirou." she mumbled, looking up at izuku. "wh— what do i...?"
"if you want, i can answer it and put it on speaker?" izuku offered, standing to his feet. he took the phone away, "we'll just see how she sounds, what she wants to talk about?" y/n nodded silently and izuku took it as cue to answer. he cleared his throat and slid his thumb across the screen, "hello?"
"oh, hi! hey, who's this?"
"this is izuku? i'm y/n's friend... did you need something?" he turned to y/n, who frowned. jirou didn't sound like she was panicked or anything.
"oh, i... could you do me a favor and keep her away from the internet for a bit? twitter, the new interview from yuuei, i just don't want her to see any of it."
y/n's eyes widened and izuku sighed, turning around and holding the phone close. "and why is that? if i may ask."
"i have to talk to her so there aren't any misunderstandings." jirou sighed. "we've talked about this so many times before, and i'm just scared of what'll happen."
"oh, well—"
"there's already a bunch of misunderstandings between us," y/n said as she got close. izuku willingly handed over the phone; squeezed her chest comfortingly to show his support.
"you know what? you're right. we've talked about this so many times and i still don't understand. kyouka— i've been waiting. i've been waiting for months, and i don't mind, that's not what i'm angry about. but what happened to your image?
"your pr team told you to stay out of a relationship for the sake of shouto and katsuki. the media is done with the story, nothing. weeks pass, still nothing. and now, what? your team is saying yes and you choose someone else— what am i supposed to do? keep waiting while you have someone else?"
"you have most of it right, y/n." jirou said seriously on the other line. she sounded like she was closing a door or something before she took a deep breath. "and i understand how hurt and confused you must be right now— but i didn't choose. i didn't even know we were doing this until—"
"did aizawa do this? isn't he your manager? i don't understand why he—"
"aizawa agreed another relationship for sij would advance our career, yes, but he left it at that decision. my pr team decided to choose momo for the publicity stunt because that's their responsibility and they decided it'd be a bigger shock to have two members dating.
"people would start looking for 'chemistry in interviews or on stage at our concerts, or youtube compilations— more publicity for us, more coverage. the breakup would be even more shocking; more people would start looking for any signs of tension. would empathize if there was, praise if there wasn't."
y/n didn't say anything and jirou sighed, continuing. "overall, it was the best marketing decision, so i... i went along with it. and i'm sorry for all of this, but when it's over, we can—"
"i'm sorry, but i can't."
"what do you mean?"
"kyouka, i... i don't know, i just can't do this. it's weird— we can't date because there wouldn't be a large enough media reaction? all of the waiting, i never have any idea what's going on— this isn't for me. and how long will you guys have to keep this relationship up? and then breaking up— i don't want what we do to be monitored or controlled— i don't want staged tweets i just want us. i don't mind us staying friends, but—" y/n cut herself off, pressed her eyes shut.
"y/n. i get what you mean, i promise i do..." she trailed at the speaking around her. y/n waited as jirou spoke to the person. "uhm. i'm really sorry, but i—"
"have to go." y/n finished slowly. "that's okay, i understand."
"we can talk about all of this later?"
y/n pursed her lips. they weren't going to talk about it later— y/n wouldn't allow it. frankly, she was done. she didn't know what it was, but she was out of energy for the apparent 'chase.' for the waiting game the two were playing. without a word, she pulled the phone from her ear and ended the call.
izuku quickly took the phone from her; she watched as he shut it off— shut off his as well, and placed them in a basket, placing it on top of the fridge. he turned to face her again with a small smile, took her hands in his. "let's go take a nap." he offered a smile. "we'll deal with this later, okay?"
"izuku..."
"i know, babe." izuku smiled again, brushing his thumb over the back of her hand as he pulled her toward her room. "i know."
uhh hey. this fic will be finished by tmr ahahaahahsms