...~AIV~...
'Her holding my hand doesn't mean anything, right?'
Izuku's hand and Kyouka's hand had been clasped together since they began roaming through the shopping district of the city. The two teens were just outside the Kiyashi Ward Shopping Mall, and Izuku's mind was running a mile a minute.
His hand felt like it was burning up...but oddly in a good way. A really good way. Should he say something? Was it a friend thing? If so, friends held hands?
Okay, he knew it definitely wasn't a friend thing, but his mind needed some sort of rationalization as to why he hadn't just let go yet.
He hadn't had a friend in...Well, basically ever. So he had no idea what to think.
He looked down at Kyouka and saw a perfect smile adorning her face, and she didn't seem aware of the predicament their hands were in. Izuku knew he was probably just overthinking things, and Kyouka was just taking charge of the day. Leading him through the crowds to help him keep up.
She seemed fine with it, so Izuku wasn't going to complain. Well, he would rather his heart not be beating faster than All Might on ten energy drinks. But he mentally made the compromise that being able to hold the hand of a gorgeous young woman outweighed the chances of a possible heart attack.
Hmm...it seemed that every time he thought about Kyouka, he had to put some sort of complimentary adjective in front of her.
Eh, it was probably nothing.
...Okay, it was definitely something and he knew what it was. Or, at least he knew what it was likely leading to. However, he decidedly ignored it for the time being. It would be better that way. He sometimes really hated having the mind of a teenager. He would just casually slip his hand free when the opportunity arose.
He just hoped his hands weren't sweaty.
.....
'Boy, his hands sure are sweaty.'
The two teens entered the mall and gazed around at the pure vastness of it. Shopping malls such as Kiyashi were a dying brand in the Pre-Quirk Age. But, the sudden need for custom made clothing, accessories, household items, and more due to body changing quirks, the need for special stores and companies to make such things skyrocketed. For instance, they passed a clothing store with items specifically for people with horns, talons, or other sharp body parts. And with that only being one of the thousands and thousands of possibilities of quirks...Well, that meant the mall was pretty damn big.
"What exactly do we do?" Izuku asked, slipping his hand out of Kyouka's, doing his best to be as casual as possible about it.
Kyouka lifted a brow at him, sarcasm dripping from her tone, "Do you not know what a mall is?"
"I-. Yes, I know what a mall is," Izuku deadpanned, "I just meant this place is huge. Where do we start?"
"I don't know. I don't really come here often. You?"
"Never."
The girl turned to her companion in shock, "Seriously? Not even once?"
Izuku shrugged, "To hang out? No. Not a whole lot of friends, remember?"
"Is that gonna be your excuse for every social activity you haven't done?"
"Is it a bad one?"
"Nah, nah I'm just asking. Oh, hold on." Izuku was tugged by his sleeve to the left, and soon found himself in a music shop. Guitars and basses lined the walls, and keyboards, brass instruments, and woodwinds all were sectioned off in their own areas. Drum sets, albums, musical notebooks, cords, and more were everywhere across the store covered wall to wall with band posters.
They walked across the checkered floor and made it to the rows of vinyl records. "This is the perfect opportunity to broaden your musical horizon."
"B-But, I don't have a record player."
"I don't actually mean to buy these. I'm just trying to give suggestions." Izuku looked around at the records and began to browse. He was about to pick up a record with the band name "Smash Mou-"
*Smack*
Kyouka hit his hand immediately. "No!"
"Wh-"
"Just, no!"
Izuku raised his hands in surrender, and went back to looking. He pointed to a "Nickelback" album an-
*Smack*
"Oh my God, Dude! Jus-...I-...I'll just send you links or something, because you're terrible at this."
Izuku rubbed the back of his head and blushed, "S-Sorry."
"Just c'mon." As Kyouka took the two towards the back of the store, Izuku really hoped his ignorance on music wouldn't ruin this. But, he wasn't going to get his hopes up anytime soon. Kyouka stopped them in front of all of the instruments. She began looking over them all in thought, picking up different ones and examining them closely. Kyouka picked up a keytar, handing it to a perplexed Izuku to hold. Kyouka hummed in thought as she looked him over, but then shook her head. "Nah."
"Uh...Wh-What are you doing?" Izuku asked, handing Kyouka the instrument back.
Kyouka shrugged as she placed the keytar back on its stand, "Well, I've been thinking. Now that we're best friends by default and all, we need an excuse to hang out more."
"...We need excuses to do that?"
"Do you wanna see more of me or not?"
"Continue."
Kyouka chuckled, crossing her arms as she continued to look up and down at the wall of different instruments, "I'm kidding. What I meant was, I think we should have things that are our things. Like, specific things and hobbies that we do together. I was wondering if I could teach you how to play something, because clearly you need help with this stuff if you're going to be around me more often. I'm just not particularly sure which instrument fits you."
Izuku pursed his lips and nodded, "I've never actually thought about playing an instrument before. But, I can't say I'm not interested."
"Cool. Now we just need to figure out which instrument suits you the best and that I can teach you."
"Which ones do you know how to play?"
"Yes."
"I-...Okay, but seriously."
Kyouka blew a raspberry, raising her fingers up to count, "Uhmm, let's see...Guitar, bass, bass guitar, piano, drums, flute, trumpet, saxophone, keytar, clarinet, accordion, bagpipes and no don't ask, harmonica, bo- "
Izuku waved his hands out, signaling Kyouka to stop, "Okay! Is there anything you DON'T play?"
"Hmm...Piccolo?"
"I-"
"Oh, wait. No, I know how to play that."
Izuku squinted in confusion, "Really?"
"Eh, I was like seven and I immediately jumped on it when I realized it was the same name as the DBZ character."
"Oh, you watch anime, too?"
Kyouka froze, "Uh...Y-Yeah. I mean, not much. Mostly when I was a kid."
She shifted her eyes away for a moment. It wasn't something that was really all that embarrassing. It was just a closeted interest...Kind of like most of her interests. Sharing about the things she loved wasn't something she really did. Why would anyone care? Who would be interested in what she liked? She wasn't ashamed of what she liked or anything. There was just this lock and key around her heart, keeping everything for herself.
Her key was the only one in existence.
It was one of the reasons why she never had or even attempted to have friends outside of school. She never felt connected to them. There was no real deep want to be with them or get to know them any better. It just seemed like her interests didn't align with anyone else. So, Kyouka locked her doors, keeping everything to herself. Eventually, it led to sharing being such an uncommon thing that when she did do it, it felt embarrassing. It was private information.
Yet, here she was blabbing to Midoriya that she was into cartoons.
"Is there any possible way you could get any more awesome?"
...Hold on.
"Come again, Cabbage Patch?"
"I loved that stuff when I was a kid. Still do, if we're being honest."
"Oh...Me too, from time-to-time. I-I don't really talk about it much. Just wasn't something I figured anyone else I knew would be interested in."
"That's something else we could do! We can start watching something together." Even if Kyouka didn't want to, she never would have been able to resist. The second his eyes lit up in excitement, the decision was already made.
"Sounds great. Just, anything but One Piece because-"
"It's probably really good, but way too long, and we're not devoting all that time to one show instead of multiple."
"You see? This is why we're best friends by default."
Izuku's shoulders slumped a little, but he still had a smile on his face, "Saying 'by default' every time really drops the significance of that term."
"I've known you for a week, dude. We'll get there." Kyouka gazed at Izuku's smile as it widened, his bright eyes suddenly filled with determination to achieve that social status with her, his desire, real desire to spend time with her and connect with her.
She needed to make a copy of that key.
"Before we get too ahead of ourselves Mop-Top, we still have this matter to deal with." Kyouka walked them up to the guitars on the wall. "Now, a guitar can be soft and acoustic. And it can also be hardcore when it's electric. Just like you. You're soft, but can be hard-hitting. Guitars can also break strings like how you break your arms. However..."
Kyouka walked them over to a piano, "A piano can also be soft and hardcore depending on how you play it. It's rare, but it's strings can break. But it's also fairly complicated. Not to downplay the complications of a guitar, but a piano is a whole different beast."
"So, what do I choose?"
"...Both."
"...You're kidding, right?"
"Does it look like I'm kidding, Parsley?"
Izuku tried to read Kyouka's standard bored look. "...It's very hard to tell with you."
Kyouka chuckled, "Look, you seem like someone who likes to challenge himself. So, why not?" Kyouka was going to leave out the part where learning two instruments at once would require Izuku to need a lot of help, which meant spending more time together.
"I don't think I can afford both a piano and a guitar."
"Technically two guitars, electric and acoustic. But, you're not buying them. You can use mine. We have a month until U.A officially starts. I'll have you at the basics of both by then."
"Where will we practice?"
"Well, unless you want to move a piano to your house it'll be at my place."
Izuku nodded dumbly with wide eyes, "And the room your instruments are located are...?"
Kyouka looked at him with amused confusion, "My room."
"Right, I thought so. Excuse me for a moment." Izuku walked away to crouch down out of sight behind a large stereo, and contemplate his life as he was soon to be entering a girl's room. Kyouka watched with a questioning raised brow as Izuku walked away with the strangest look on his face, and then suddenly reappear. "Okay, I-I'm back."
"What the hell was that about?"
"N-Nothing. Just rejoicing at the death of my previous life predictions."
"...What?"
"Is there anything else here you want to look at?" Izuku asked, diverting away from the topic.
Kyouka shook her head, "No, I'm good. Let's find somewhere else, BB."
"Please stop calling me that."
"You do realize that by saying that, it just makes me want to call you that more?"
"I do, unfortunately." She could tell it was faux disappointment. He was playing along, which she could tell he was knew at. But, he was doing a good job for what it's worth. The two walked out of the store and continued their way through the mall. She looked up at Izuku to see him looking around at other shops and people passing by with different quirks and such. He caught her eyes and gave a warm smile. A strange, warm sensation spread from Kyouka's chest to the rest of her body. 'For kind of a dork, he's pretty cool. Yeah, this can definitely work."
"Where should we go next?" Izuku said, catching Kyouka's attention once more.
"I chose last time. You go ahead and pick."
Izuku brought a hand to his chin in thought. "Hmm...Does the mall have a place that sells figurines?"
"Oooh, doll collection? I'm afraid this friendship has ended." Kyouka watched fear flash through Izuku's eyes for a split second, but he caught the smirk on her face.
"That's not funny."
"Hehehe, it is to me. C'mon, let's read the mall map." The teens walked up to the holographic projection of a top-down overview of the building. As they read the names of the stores, a few voices came up behind them.
"Are you sure it's here, dude?"
"Don't fucking doubt me, Extra. I didn't ask you to come along."
Izuku's eyes widened and his body quickly reacted on instinct. He pulled up his hood and kept his head down. Kyouka looked at him confused, "What are you doing, Midoriy-?"
"Shh! Don't say my name," Izuku whispered. Directly next to the couple, Katsuki Bakugou himself and his two goons for lack of a better word, began reading the mall map.
"So, which store is it Bakugou?" asked the blonde haired one on the right. Also known as Naides Yubi.
"I'm fucking looking you moron."
Rokuro Kubi walked up to the other side of Bakugou, and was the closest to Izuku. The green-haired teen couldn't help but feel relieved that it was Kubi who was the nearest to him. Out of the three, Izuku knew that Rubi wasn't the most...to keep from insulting him, Izuku stuck with "perceptive".
"Yo, Bakugou. Did Deku actually show up to the entrance exam?"
Bakugou scoffed, "Of course he did. That worthless fucking nerd has always been delusional."
Kyouka peeked past Izuku to see the "Blonde Dick" from her entrance exam. Who was Deku? Did Izuku know that guy?
Yubi shook his head, "Midoriya just never learns, does he? Doesn't matter what we did to him."
Kyouka's eyes widened, '...Deku is Midoriya? And, what did he mean by 'did to him'?'
Katsuki scoffed, "Whatever. I'm tired of talking about that quirkless welp. I found the store. Let's go." The trio made their way off further into the mall, leaving the two teens alone at the display. Neither said a single word as they stood, not knowing what to say to the other.
Kyouka looked over Izuku, and carefully thought about how to approach the situation. "Midoriya...When you said that people weren't fans of you...What exactly did you mean?"
Izuku slowly pulled his hood down, and kept his eyes from looking directly into Kyouka's. "H-He's probably going to the same store as we were going to go to. I-I'd rather not deal with him r-right now. Can we go? I mean, I'm sure we can find somewhere else to have fun."
Izuku tried to walk away, but a firm grip on his jacket sleeve kept him in place. "We can go. But, you're not distancing yourself. I'm your best friend by default, remember? Don't be a dipshit."
"...How was that the most heartfelt yet crass comforting I've ever been given?"
"Just c'mon." Kyouka led him outside of the mall and back onto the sidewalks. The day had been going spectacularly, and she wasn't going to let some bleach blonde douchebag ruin it.
As they walked, eventually the streets became less crowded and Izuku thought it was about time he spoke up.
"I-"
"Not yet." Izuku furrowed his brow puzzled, but kept quiet for the time being. He waited until Kyouka had sat them down at a bench in the train station, waiting for a ride.
"...I-"
"Still not yet, Dill Weed." Izuku was growing suspicious that Kyouka was looking up different green herbs whenever he wasn't looking. Soon enough, a train arrived and the two stepped on.
"...Not yet?"
"Not yet." After only a 10 minute train ride, the two exited the station and were back out on the streets. Soon they stood outside of a modern house fit for a decently well off family. He was dragged inside and was immediately taken towards the stairs.
"Kyouka I need to take off my shoes!?"
"Who cares?"
"But I-"
"Kyouka?" Both teens, already halfway up the staircase, turned to see the two elder Jirou's sitting at their dinner table from across the living room.
Kyouka turned to Izuku and whispered, "Just slowly move up the stairs, and act like they can't see you."
Kyoutoku jumped up from his chair and pointed at Izuku, "Mika! A boy!"
"Run." Kyouka yanked Izuku up the stairs and out of sight.
The father swerved around the table and made his way towards the stairs. "Now hold on! Who is this!? What are you doing with my dau-!"
"Kyou." The sound of his nickname made him stop and turn to his wife. "Just let them be. He can introduce himself when they're done."
"When they're done!?"
"Not like that. She met that boy at her entrance exam. This is Kyouka we're talking about. When was the last time our daughter had anyone over? And with how she's been acting the last few days, he must be something special."
"But-... He's... He's-!"
"A boy? I'm well aware. You can act big and tough on him later. Just leave them be."
Kyoutoku opened his mouth to argue, but after living 15 years in a house with two "Won't take any shit" women, he knew that if they both were against him on something he had already lost.
"Grrgh, fine. But I'm using the voice."
...~AIV~...
"Sh-Shouldn't I say something? I'm kind of intruding."
"It's fine, dude. This is more important." She opened up the door to her room and led Izuku in. If Izuku thought his room was for hero nerds, then Kyouka's was the equivalent for musicians. The fairly large room consisted of a red and black checkered floor along with deep purple walls that were mostly covered in soundproof padding, a bed with the blankets matching the walls and a television in front of it, band posters everywhere, a desk, make-up table, a book/DVD shelf, and a whole lot of instruments. The essentials for a band were all located in the back corner of her room. A drum set, guitars, basses, a keyboard, and Izuku didn't even want to think about how many more instruments were likely in her closet. The front corner of her room sat a Roland RD-700NX Piano that was completely covered in sticky notes with what Izuku assumed were lyric ideas.
Izuku was so much in awe over it all, that he didn't even freak out over being in a girl's room.
His eyes widened.
Oh, wait. He remembered.
"A-Ah I shouldn't be here. This is your room."
Kyouka gazed at him confused, "So? Just get over here and sit." She put him down at the piano stool and sat next to him.
"What are we doing here?"
"Starting your music lessons." Now it was Izuku's turn to be confused. Did Kyouka completely forget about what happened at the mall? Was she ignoring it? Did she not care?
"Of course I care, Seaweed."
Damn his muttering.
"Well... Aren't you going to ask me about it?"
Kyouka shrugged, "It's something you clearly don't like talking about. And to be perfectly honest, after what they said it's not that hard to figure it out. Bullies are pieces of shit. But, I'm not someone who likes my business being poked into. So, I'm not going to do that to you. And, best friends or not, we still haven't known each other that long. You don't just blab that stuff to strangers."
"We're not strangers."
"Not anymore, but we only crossed that threshold recently."
Izuku couldn't argue that. No matter how attached he was, it was a very fresh attachment. "S-Sorry. I've never had friends, more or less, so I've also never had a confidant before. Sharing that sort of stuff has never been in my coding."
"And I'm not going to push you to say anything."
"Well, then why are we here?"
Kyouka twirled her jacks around her finger as she responded. "For starters you wanted to get outta there, and this was the only place I could think of. Two, I wasn't just gonna let you go home like that. You're not losing me that easy, especially when you'd probably freak out the rest of the night over it, correct?"
"...Yeah, I would've."
"And finally, music is always what calms me down. Why not you?"
Izuku couldn't help but chuckle a bit. "Thanks Kyouka, but...I don't wanna start off my first real friendship on lack of communication and not sharing."
"Hey, it's alright. Really, it is."
"You told me something about yourself in the music store that you didn't tell anyone else. It's only fair."
"Telling someone that you're into anime is a lot different from this."
Izuku shrugged, "Maybe. But, it's just as important to me."
Kyouka shook her head, "Why?"
"...Well...because, you're important to me." Izuku rubbed the back of his head as Kyouka turned to him. "I-I know that must sound weird! Just, hear me out. Like you said, we haven't known each other long. And, I know this sounds clingy and weird and I'm sorry, but..." Izuku averted his eyes and began playing at random keys on the piano as a blush spread on his face. "... Besides my mom you're kinda all I have, honestly."
"...What about your dad?"
"He lives in America and sends us money. I-It's been a long time since I've seen him. And with my mom, I've always had a sort of...small personal disconnect with her. I mean I love her, don't get me wrong. But something happened when I was a kid that made it hard to share personal stuff with her. That's a completely different story though. And the only person I ever thought was my friend hates my very existence. So, Kyouka, at the moment, you kind of are all I've got right now." Izuku took a deep breath as his air ran out near the end of his short speech. He turned to Kyouka to see her eyes wide. "S-Sorry. My brain goes off sometimes and I can't stop talking."
Kyouka blew a raspberry and put a hand on her friend's shoulder, "That's...definitely a lot to take in. I can't exactly say I fully understand how it feels. Hell, I highly doubt most people could with how unique your situation is."
Izuku thought about his life from birth, to quirklessness, to meeting All Might, to eating a hair, to being able to blow up skyscrapers with his fist, and chuckled. "Hehe. You have no idea."
"I can say this though. I might not be much, but if I'm all you got then I'll be everything you need."
"That's a big promise to make to a stranger."
"Not strangers, remember?"
A small smile graced Izuku's face. "Then the same goes to me for you."
"You are one sappy nerd."
"A-Ah, well I-"
Kyouka nudged his side, "Don't take it seriously. Sappy is good. You contrast with my calm and cool personality."
"Did you really just call yourself calm and cool?"
"I am though."
"Yeah, but no one actually says it about themselves."
"It's called honesty, Green Bean. I thought that's what this whole talk was about?" Izuku put his hands up in defeat over the joking argument, his smile growing. Kyouka always managed to do that somehow. "And speaking of honesty..."
'Oh no.'
"If you really want me to know and to share these things with me, I have one question. Only one."
Izuku didn't need to hear what she was going to ask. He already knew what it was going to be about. "You want to know why Kacchan called me quirkless."
Kyouka nodded, "That was definitely a stand out point in the crap coming out of their mouths. And which one was Kacchan? I thought the Bakugou kid called you that."
"Kacchan is what I've called him since we were really little. He was the one I was talking about when I said the only friend I once thought I had hates me. Once he figured out I was quirkless and he got his quirk, he changed."
Izuku was relieved, yet frustrated. He was relieved because he didn't have to make up a story on the fly. He and All Might had already created a backstory that was as believable as they could make it. Which was admittedly hard when no one on the face of the planet suddenly got a quirk at 15. But, it was good enough as long as they didn't tell it to a quirk geneticist.
But, he was frustrated because he had just said he didn't want his first friendship to start out on lies. He didn't have a choice, however. He couldn't tell her about One For All. At least, not now. All Might did tell him that if he truly couldn't help it or if the situation required it, he could tell someone he absolutely 100% trusted.
But, it was pretty heavily implied that All Might was talking about telling Inko as he understood it would be difficult to not tell his mother about it. And, Izuku also knew that his mentor would be pretty mad if he suddenly spilled the beans to a girl he had known for 5 and a half days.
One For All would have to be Izuku's compromise. His only solace was that a good portion of the story was actually true, but parts were shifted.
"When I was 4, I was diagnosed as quirkless. I showed no sign of either of my parents quirks, or a quirk in general."
Kyouka grimaced, "And I'm assuming that it immediately put a target on your back?"
Izuku nodded and continued. "That's why they called me Deku at the mall. It was the nickname Kacchan gave me. It means 'Useless'."
"Ouch."
"Yeah, but as it turned out, my quirk didn't awaken because it wouldn't show until I was physically able to handle its power without dying. That's why I break my bones whenever I use it. My body is only just barely able to use it."
Kyouka couldn't imagine her jacks being dangerous to her. It would definitely suck. Buuuut she couldn't help but thank Izuku's quirk for being so strong, because it was what led to Izuku being as chiseled as he was.
At least, she assumed. She had only seen his arms, but she had to imagine the rest was just as good-looking.
...Not that she imagined him shirtless or anything.
"Damn. Is there any way to stop breaking your bones?"
"Oh yeah! Don't worry about that. The more I train and get used to small percentages of my quirk, I'll be able to use more and more of it over time."
"Don't worry about it? Dude, you break your damn arms whenever you use your quirk. And you're going to the hero course where we use quirks all the time! How can I not worry about it!?" Izuku couldn't help but smile at her concern. It was nice to know that now someone else cared about him. "Although, I do want to know something else. Breaks your bones or not, if I learned that I picked on a kid that had the strength to eradicate a skyscraper sized battle robot in a single punch, I'd piss my pants. Those guys actually still have the balls to call you stuff like that?"
Izuku rubbed his arm awkwardly, "Actually, they d-don't know I'm not quirkless."
"Really? Did you just not tell them when they went after you again, or try to show something off prove it in any way. Granted, it would be super painful. But, they'd know. When did you figure out you had a quirk?"
"...When I punched the robot."
Kyouka froze in her seat, "Are you freaking kidding me?" Izuku shook his head with a sheepish look.
*Jab*
"Ow! What was that for?!" Kyouka had just stuck Izuku in the side with one of her jacks.
"Are you stupid!? Why would you try to fight giant robots without any powers!?"
"I-If it makes you feel any better, I didn't know there would be robots."
"It really doesn't."
Izuku rubbed the spot where he was jabbed, and looked down at his lap. "I-I don't know. I guess I was just tired of being useless. If I could get into U.A. then I could prove everyone wrong and that I wasn't Deku."
Kyouka immediately felt a hit of regret to her gut. She shouldn't have said that. How many times had people probably told him that he couldn't be a hero? It wasn't that she thought it was impossible , but it would definitely be really, REALLY hard.
"Hey, I didn't mean it like that. I'm not saying it wasn't possible. I mean, I saw a girl that her quirk was only being invisible and I'm pretty sure she passed."
"I know there was no malicious intent behind what you said. It's oka- Hold on did you say invisible? That's it?"
"Yeah. There was also a rock kid that could talk to animals, but there were no animals or bugs around and he seemed really excited about how many bots he destroyed."
Izuku threw his hands up, "Could I have passed without a quirk?!"
"You sound like you didn't even believe in yourself."
"I didn't exactly have anyone rooting for me."
"Oh, right. Bullies. Kinda forgot that part" Kyouka said, putting her head on her arms on the piano.
Izuku waved her off, "It's fine. I don't let them get to me."
Kyouka furrowed her brow and turned to Izuku. "No one can just not let things get to you. I'm sure that, since you're someone who still fought to get to U.A quirkless, you're pretty stubborn. But, those things get planted in your head whether you like it or not."
"N-No, really. I'm alright."
"Yet, you referred to yourself as Deku. And you had this look in your eyes when those dumbasses showed up and you wanted to leave. Midoriya, you can cut the weeds out all you want, but if you don't take out the roots they'll just keep growing back." Izuku gave a weak smile as he played random keys, clearly uneasy about the entire situation. "...Holy shit, that's a good song lyric." Kyouka quickly grabbed the pen from atop the piano and wrote down another sticky note.
Izuku laughed at her behavior, but went back to a serious look. "What should I do then?"
"Hmm...Take out the roots, and shove it down their throat."
"...What?"
Kyouka bit her lip in thought, "Okay, less violent phrasing. I mean, take what they said and own it. When you own it and then succeed, it just shows how powerless they were instead of you. You can't let 'em keep talking."
"How so?"
"Uh...Hm... Well, I don't know about you. But, Deku sounds like a pretty good hero name to me."
"...But it means useless."
Kyouka smirked at him. "Yep."
"...You've lost me."
"If you go by Deku and use it as a name of pride, then it loses all power for them. Use it in the sense of, "look how far I've come". Calling yourself useless but then being able to do anything makes it a contradiction. It's like a joke."
Izuku was taken aback by her reasonings. If he took the name for himself, then anytime someone called him that it would be like a compliment. Instead of being called useless, they would be calling him someone who can do anything. And one of All Might's main staples was his humor. Making his name be partially a joke would be a step towards that.
And Deku definitely sounded a lot better coming out of Kyouka's mouth.
"...Okay."
Kyouka's brows raised. "Really?"
"Y-Yeah. Y-...Yeah! I'm Deku!"
Kyouka smiled at him. "Awesome. It looks like I've finally found a solid nickname for you."
"Does that mean you'll stop calling me vegetables?"
"Hahahahahahahahaha! Aaahh...No."
Izuku pressed his lips together and nodded, "I figured."
"I'll never have only one name for you. Although, there is one name that I think I should stop calling you."
"Broccoli Boy?"
"Hahahahahahahaha!"
"Just tell me," Izuku said with fake agitation.
Kyouka wiped a tear from her eye and calmed her laughing. "Honestly, I think I'm done calling you Midoriya. I might as well call you Izuku. Along with all of your other nicknames too."
Izuku blushed a bit, "F-First name basis?"
"Dude, you've called me Kyouka like four times tonight."
"I did!?"
"Yep. And, best friends by default should be on a first name basis...I think. But hey, our friendship is our own thing. So what do you think, Izuku ?"
The teen smiled back, "I think that sounds great, Kyouka."
Kyouka laid her elbow on Izuku's shoulder and leaned over, "Now, we can either start your musical lesson for real. Or, you can face the wrath of my dad."
"...I'll take the lesson."
"Alright, first I need to teach you how to read sheet music." As Izuku watched Kyouka stand up and walk towards a cabinet to look for sheet music. His life was changing so fast he could hardly keep up. But, with Kyouka, he couldn't help but feel it was going to be great.
Kyouka bent down to grab the sheet music from the bottom of the cabinet, and Izuku quickly looked away.
...Or he would die early.