Chapter 63

Despite more than an hour passing since their arrival, Izuku and Kyouka had barely exchanged more than a few words. Instead, Izuku followed through with his plan to stare up at the ceiling, his right hand behind him as Kyouka lay at an angle, using his chest and shoulder as a pillow.

"Hey, check this out..." said Kyouka, showing Izuku her phone, displaying the image of a fat, disgruntled-looking cat staring at a mouse just out of its reach.

"I feel that..." muttered Izuku, a faint smile adorning his face as he turned his attention back to the ceiling.

Without another word, Kyouka also returned to messing with her phone, swiping through various memes and bobbing her head in timing with the music playing through her in-ear headphones.

("This is nice...") thought Izuku, closing his eyes and just vibing for a few minutes. He wasn't listening to music, but the gentle rhythm of Kyouka's head bobbing was like a metronome, gradually lulling him to sleep...

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With Izuku actually falling asleep, Kyouka waited until she absolutely 'had' to go home before waking him, gently shaking his body as she said, "Hey, Izuku, I need to go home. My parents would flip if they learned I was late because I was hanging out with a boy..."

Though he was tempted to pretend he was still asleep, Izuku responded with a sleepy "Right...I'll walk you to the station..." before parting his eyes to find Kyouka's face surprisingly close to his own.

"..."

"..."

Averting her face and eyes after several seconds had passed, Kyouka used the tip of her leftmost earphone jack to poke the center of Izuku's forehead as she asked, "How are you feeling? You probably don't want to talk about it, but it would be weird if I left without asking..."

"A lot better..." replied Izuku, surprising Kyouka as he used his left hand to turn her face back to him. However, instead of trying to kiss her, he gently caressed her cheek with his thumb, adding, "Thanks, Kyouka...having you here helped a lot...I mean it..."

As if to indicate she enjoyed having her face touched, Kyouka's right earphone wrapped around Izuku's wrist, generating a surprising amount of pressure as she stared back at him with her half-lidded, captivatingly amethyst eyes and slightly pursed lips. At a glance, it almost looked like she was pouting, but the faint red hue of her cheeks told a different story.

Understanding what the petite, purple-haired rocker girl wanted, Izuku leaned forward to plant a chaste but lingering kiss on Kyouka's lips. She had the same pouty expression when he pulled away, but the ruddy hue of her cheeks had become even more prominent as she asked, "Is that all you want...?"

Adopting a gentle, affectionate smile, Izuku softly mused, "I have six cute girlfriends. What more could I ask for...?"

Catching Izuku a little off guard, Kyouka replied, "You could ask for a lot more...I mean, it's not good to be selfless all the time. Instead of trying to make us happy, tell me how I can make you happy...so long as it isn't too embarrassing, I'll do it..."

"Are you sure...?" asked Izuku, the corners of his smile curling up as his eyes narrowed slightly.

Swallowing nervously, Kyouka adopted a resolute expression as she replied, "I'm your girlfriend...is it weird that I want to make you happy?"

Exhaling a soft chuckle, Izuku shook his head and whispered, "Not in the slightest..." before moving in for another, marginally more intimate kiss...

Thinking that Izuku wanted to make out, Kyouka hesitated for a moment before straddling him, linking her arms and earphone jacks around his neck and shoulders before taking the initiative to slip her tongue into his mouth. Izuku was slightly surprised by her sudden assertiveness, but he didn't make it known. Instead, he placed his hands on Kyouka's hips and enjoyed the feeling of her remarkably light body pressed against his, their tongues entangling for nearly ten minutes.

Pulling away rather abruptly, Kyouka's half-lidded expression belied how turbulent her emotions were as she said, "I need to go home..." between labored breaths.

"I know..." replied Izuku, holding Kyouka's gaze for several seconds. His actions led her to believe he wasn't satisfied yet, but before she could move in to continue kissing him, Izuku surprised her by asking, "Can you sing for me...?"

"Huh...?"

Looking at Izuku as if his head had suddenly turned into a mushroom, Kyouka asked, "You want 'me' to sing for 'you'...?" in a disbelieving tone.

Adopting a slight pout, Kyouka appended, "Is that some kind of sexual innuendo...?"

"Not this time..." replied Izuku, folding his hands over the small of Kyouka's back as he added, "You might disguise it behind dull and flat speech, but I can tell you have a captivating voice. Deny it all you want, but I've heard you singing under your breath...you're not the only one with excellent hearing..."

If she was blushing before, Kyouka's face became scarlet crimson at the thought Izuku had heard her singing. Even her parents hadn't heard her singing, as far as she knew, so she ended up peppering Izuku's face with the pointed tips of her earphone jacks as she shouted, "Forget you heard anything...!"

As Kyouka wasn't trying to hurt him, her pokes were more like gentle taps to Izuku's face and forehead, prompting him to respond, "I refuse!" with a uniquely 'hardened' expression.

Feeling slightly annoyed, Kyouka ceased laying against Izuku, crossing her arms and snorting through her nose as she said, "Then I also refuse. I'm not good enough for people to hear me singing, even if that person is my boyfriend..."

Instead of pressing the matter, Izuku gave a few slight nods, responding, "I understand..." before immediately appending, "I'm serious, though. You have an incredible voice, Kyouka. Enough to inspire me to want to write a few songs..."

Blinking in surprise, the pout faded from Kyouka's face as she asked, "You can write songs?"

Shrugging his shoulders, Izuku clarified, "Just the lyrics. I thought about picking up the guitar after learning you played the bass, but I didn't want you to feel pressured into teaching or playing together..."

Combing back the bangs framing the left side of her face, Kyouka pointedly replied, "I wouldn't mind..." before getting back to the original topic, asking, "Since you're the one who brought it up, mind letting me take a look at the songs you wrote? If they're good, I might, maybe just a little, consider singing them for you..."

"Are you sure?" asked Izuku, a teasing smile developing across his face as he revealed, "Most of them are love songs."

"Kuh..."

Imagining herself serenading Izuku with a love song, Kyouka covered her face with both hands, groaning audibly as she thought ("If I had known he was going to ask for something like this, I wouldn't have asked him to be greedier...")

Jettisoning such thoughts from her mind, Kyouka lowered her hands and said, "Whatever. Just let me see them..." with an ill-tempered expression and tone.

Offering a curt nod, Izuku replied, "Sure, but you'll need to get off of me first. Your body is really light, but I doubt you'd be okay with me carrying you around like a koala..."

While thinking that Izuku had suddenly become 'really' cheeky, Kyouka got off his body and sat in a huff, arms and legs crossed, as she watched him get up and retrieve a notebook from his desk.

Reminding Kyouka of the time, Izuku suggested, "Come on. You can look at them while I accompany you to the station. As much as I want to keep you here, I'd rather your parents didn't worry."

"Oh...yeah, that probably wouldn't end well..." replied Kyouka, rising from Izuku's bed and grabbing her backpack before joining Izuku at the door. She was half-tempted to suggest spending the night, but since Izuku had 'wasted' his request on wanting to hear her sing, she didn't want to be the one to propose it...

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"Did you seriously write all of these...?" asked Kyouka, her expression one of disbelief as there were more than twenty really-well-thought-out songs in the notebook Izuku had given her. Both of her parents were successful, fairly famous musicians/songwriters, so she could tell that each of Izuku's songs had incredible potential. She could even imagine a few topping the charts if the accompanying melody was good...

Adopting a faint smile, Izuku replied, "What can I say? I had a really good muse..." while looking down to meet her gaze.

"..."

Turning her head to avoid Izuku's gaze, Kyouka returned her attention to his notebook, re-reading the lyrics of a song called 'You are the Reason.' She was fairly certain that Izuku was just paying her lip service, but if he truly felt the way he did in his songs...

Feeling herself tear up, Kyouka swallowed the knot in her throat before hugging Izuku's notebook to her chest. Her actions caught the latter's attention, but he didn't say anything, just smiling as he thought, ("Thank you, Callum Scott and Ed Sheeran...")

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Though he could have left her at the station, Izuku accompanied Kyouka all the way to the outside of her surprisingly large house. The tensions between them became palpable, but instead of suing for a kiss goodbye, Izuku's expression softened as he said, "Keep the notebook. The songs in it were always intended for you. Besides, I've already memorized each of them..."

"Izuku..."

Feeling a strange sense of guilt, Kyouka hugged the notebook even tighter, hesitating for several seconds before asking, "Do you...maybe want to come inside? I originally intended to keep our relationship a secret, but since you've already told your mom..."

Extending his elbow for Kyouka to latch onto, Izuku replied, "It would be my honor to meet your parents, Kyouka. And I would be lying if I said I didn't have at least a 'middling' interest in your room..."

Thinking Izuku was making another dirty joke when he was really just talking about her instrument collection, Kyouka's face turned beet red. Despite this, she still linked her arm through his, steeling herself as the two approached her front door...

Opening the door with her key, Kyouka stepped inside with Izuku before calling out, "M-Mom! Dad! I'm home...!"

Emanating from somewhere deep in the house, a masculine voice called back, "Welcome home, sweetie! Food's on the table!"

Though it was already fairly obvious, Kyouka smiled bashfully and said, "That's my dad..." in a low voice. Shortly after that, a slender, remarkably petite woman with short, straight, dark-purple hair and glasses emerged from a nearby throughway, her appearance giving Izuku the impression of a secretary. She also had earphone jacks for earlobes, so it was incredibly obvious she was Kyouka's mother.

Seeing her daughter standing at the entrance with a boy, the secretary-like woman, Mika Jiro, immediately froze.

While kicking off her shoes, Kyouka avoided looking directly at her mother as she said, "Don't overreact. It's not that big a deal if I bring home a-"

Before Kyouka could finish speaking, Mika, contrasting her fairly serious appearance, abruptly clapped her hands as she shouted, "Kyo-kun! Kyo-kun! Come quickly! Kyouka-chan brought home a boy!"

Following Mika's outburst, Kyouka's father, a somewhat gruff-looking man with triangular eyes and shoulder-length blonde hair, came sprinting over, shouting, "Whaaaaat!? Which brat thinks they're good enough for my little girl!?"

Coming face to face with Izuku, Kyouka's father, Kyotoku Jiro, froze in a manner similar to his wife. Izuku was the same height as him and had an 'honest' face with large eyes and freckles. He expected that the first boy his daughter brought home would be some 'punk,' so he found himself at a momentary loss for words.

Adopting a fairly relaxed smile, Izuku said, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. and Mrs. Jiro. My name is Izuku Midoriya, a First Year in UA High's Hero Course. Kyouka-chan and I are..."

With Izuku looking toward her, Kyouka adopted her usual pouty expression as she revealed, "He's my boyfriend..." in a curt tone.

Cupping her cheeks, Kyouka's mother, Mika, softly exclaimed, "My little girl is growing up~!" while Kyotoku had a far more 'unamused' look on his face, hmphing before asking, "What makes you think you're good enough to date my daughter...?"

Before Izuku could respond, Kyouka pushed the notebook he had gifted her into Kyotoku's chest, shouting, "Just read these, you nosy rock-head!"

Though he furrowed his brows, unimpressed that Izuku had let Kyouka speak for him, Kyotoku's expression changed drastically when he read the lyrics on the first page, 'Thinking Out Loud' a song Izuku had plagiarized from Ed Sheeran.

Peaking over her husband's arm, Mika's expression also changed quite a bit, a hint of moisture building in her eyes as she whispered, "Kyo-chan..."

Clicking his tongue, Kyotoku closed the notebook, glaring at Izuku as he asked, "Did you write these?"

Nodding his head, Izuku replied, "Yes, Sir." in a firm, confidence-filled tone. This earned him another click of the tongue from Kyotoku, but he didn't ask anything more, turning away and walking off with his hands in his pockets while his wife covered her mouth and giggled at his expense. Then, with a brilliant smile on her face, she stared directly at Izuku and said, "Welcome to our home, Midoriya-kun. Please take good care of our Kyouka from now on."

"Mom...!" shouted Kyouka, stamping her foot. "It's not like we're getting married or anything! Can you please just be normal!?"

Instead of responding to her daughter's words, Mika covered her mouth and giggled a second time, thinking, ("Oh, Kyouka-chan...you're just like your father...")

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(A/N: Could this be the beginning of the legendary Kyouka Arc...!?)